Spider-Man: Coming of Age
by thatispunacceptable
Summary: Peter Parker, now in his junior year, is having a wonderful year since being brought back from the snap, something he has little to no memory of. However, upon meeting a chance meeting with his teacher's boyfriend, he soon learns that there is more to being a hero than punching bad guys and swinging from buildings. This story has a slow build to the action. :)
1. Chapter 1

Peter Parker was excited, and when he was excited, he fidgeted. His knee would bounce uncontrollably, his fingers would tap on whatever surface was nearby, and he would pace if he was standing up or squirm if he was sitting down. And that was how he was right now, sitting in the first class of his junior year. Around him sat his class mates, none of them particularly excited to be sitting in a history class first thing on a Monday morning. He looked around the class room, it was one he had never been in before. It was nothing interesting, all the desks faced the chalk board at the front of the room, and long windows were fitted into the wall on his left, letting in the morning sun which landed on the dull, beige walls. The only unusual thing about this room, was the absence of their teacher.

"Hey, Peter."

Peter looked over to Ned, happy to have his best friend in his first class.

"I've never had this teacher before, have you?" He asked.

Peter thought for a moment. Miss Watson. The name did not sound familiar.

"No Ned." He replied, shifting slightly in his seat.

"Well, I heard that she's super pretty." Ned said, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks.

Peter made a face, "Dude, she's probably like, a hundred years old."

"You don't know that!" Ned retorted, eager to defend himself.

"Well either way, she's a teacher, man. So, that's kind of weird."

"Good morning class!" Came a friendly voice.

Ned and Peter both jumped slightly, jerking their heads up to see the new teacher, and feeling slightly caught off guard, not having heard her enter the class room.

Peter watched as the teacher, Miss Watson, he presumed, settled some books, a laptop and her coffee on the teacher's desk at the front of the room. Ned had been right, she was pretty. Long brown hair and green eyes, but more than that, she just was pretty. She had a quality about her that just seemed nice.

"My apologies for being late this morning, as many of you are aware, today is my first day teaching at Midtown High. My name is Miss Watson." She smiled kindly at the students in her room, taking time to make eye contact with as many as she could.

Peter noticed that one or two of his classmates blushed when she looked at them. Flash raised his hand. She smiled and nodded his way for him to speak.

"Where's your accent from?" He asked, clearly trying to sound cool in front of the new teacher.

Peter and Ned both rolled their eyes at this.

Miss Watson laughed for a second, not at all put off by Flash's slightly obnoxious tone.

"Well, how about this. Since I don't know any of you, why don't we play a game to get to know each other."

More than a few students groaned and sunk in their chairs, dreading a cheesy ice-breaker game. Miss Watson seemed to be amused by their response. She chuckled to herself before speaking again.

"Don't worry, it doesn't involve much from you guys. The aim of the game is this. Whoever guesses where my accent is from first, wins."

The atmosphere of the room changed so quickly that Miss Watson let out another little chuckle.

"What do we win?" Another student asked.

"If you guess correctly," She began, taking a dramatic pause, looking around the room at the teens, most of whom were struggling to look disinterested, "You will not be given any homework this week."

Immediately the room was filled with excited looks and whispers. Miss Watson motioned her hands for the students to quiet down.

"If you guess incorrectly, you will be given the regular homework for the week."

Something like a competitive spirit entered the atmosphere. Peter looked over at Ned, ready to win.

"Now here is how this will work. You may choose to work in a team or by yourself. Each team or individual will be allowed to ask two questions about my nationality, and then that's it, no more questions for that team." She looked around the room, obviously very comfortable being up the front, holding each students rapt attention. "When I say go, you will have five minutes to break into your teams, or stay where you are if you want to work alone, and write out your two questions. I will explain further rules once the five minutes is up. Does everyone understand?" She looked around expectantly, looking for any confused faces. Satisfied, she simply said, "Go."

Peter and Ned jumped into action, scooting their desks closer together to work as a team. The room was full of the sound of students moving to be with friends, and then the excited voices as they theorised what questions to ask.

"What do you think, Peter? I think she's British." Ned said, leaning in so that others wouldn't hear his guess.

Peter looked at Miss Watson, he wrinkled his forehead.

"You reakon? I don't know. She doesn't seem fancy enough."

Ned looked down right offended,

"How can you say that, she's the fanciest person I've ever met!"

Peter gave him an incredulous stare.

"We had dinner with Tony Stark last night!" He whispered. "And Pepper Potts was there!"

"Yeah, but she's prettier." Ned sighed, leaning his cheek on his hand to look at Miss Watson, who was now sitting at her desk sorting through the notes she had prepared for the class.

Peter simply stared at his friend for a moment, then punched him softly in the arm.

"Come on, man. Let's write these questions out."

Ned blinked for a second, and then leaned in to help think of the questions.

Chloe Watson had been running late all morning, in spite of arriving thirty minutes early for school, she still managed to bustle in to her first ever class five minutes late. Hoping that none of the students would notice her slight panic of being late on her first day, she plastered on a smile and forced herself to move more slowly as she walked across the front of the room to her desk, knowing that they would not respect her if she allowed them to see the panic she felt for being late. She needed to sort through the class notes before she began teaching, but she had no time, desperate for a distraction, she introduced herself, hoping her accent would be enough for a curious kid to bite onto and give her a moment. Today was her lucky day it seemed, and as soon as their heads were down, talking with their team mates or writing down notes, she quickly adjusted the notes and prepared the hand outs for the day's lesson. Taking a sip of hot chocolate, she looked at the time. Five minutes was up, and she felt much more prepared.

Standing up and making her way to the front and centre of the room.

"Times up. That's five minutes." She announced. She watched as one or two groups hurriedly finished writing their questions. "Pencils down." She said, not un-kindly.

"Okay," She began, now having all eyes on her. "This is how this will work. We will start at the back and move our way forward. Make sure you listen carefully to the questions other people ask, because you are not allowed to repeat questions. If someone else asks your question before you, you may think of another question to replace it. Everyone with me?" She looked around the room, everyone seemed to understand. "You will not be able to guess until everyone has asked their questions. Once everyone is done, you will write you answer on a sheet of paper, with either your name and/or your team members name, and give it to me. I will then let you all know who the winners are, and who will be doing homework this week."

She looked around the room, the kids seemed to understand. But more than that, they seemed happy. She had wanted to focus on not only being a good teacher, but being someone that the kids could trust and even turn to if they needed an adult on their side.

"Let's start with you two up the back." She said, looking at the two boys who seemed to be quite good friends.

Peter looked over at Ned, who had frozen as soon as Miss Watson called on them to provide their questions, his face turning bright red.

"Dude," he whispered, shoving his friends arm.

"Everything okay?" Miss Watson asked, a small crease of concern showing on her forehead.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Peter stammered, "Um, we wanted to know what kind of weather you have in, uh, whatever country, you, uh, came from?"

He looked down at his book, cheeks warming. He hated that he stumbled over his words when he was nervous. Looking up he saw Flash smirk at him.

"Great question." Miss Watson affirmed. "It was a varied climate." She answered him, a small glint of amusement entering her eyes when Peter seemed taken aback by her vague response.

"Oh, um. Okay." He said, unsure of how to respond to her answer.

She was clearly having fun with him.

"What's your second question?" She asked.

Ned spoke up this time,

"Did it snow?"

"Dude!" Peter whispered loudly at him. "That wasn't one of our questions!"

Ned ignored him, staring eagerly at Miss Watson.

"No, it didn't snow." She said, giving him a straight answer, "Okay, good questions. What are your names?"

"Ned and Peter." Ned responded quickly.

"Thank you Ned and Peter." She said.

Miss Watson moved onto the next group, hearing questions, answering them to a varying degree, and asking names. Thankfully, most of the class had decided that teaming up was the better option, so there were only 5 groups in total, including Peter and Ned's.

"Okay, write your answers on a sheet of paper, make sure to include your names, and I will let you know who, if any of you, are the winners. Once you've done this, pull out your notebooks or laptops, and we will begin the day's lesson."

They handed in their answers, Miss Watson looking pleased with some, and amused by others. She pulled out two from the small pile and put them in her pocket.

"I will announce the winners at the end of class." She said. "Now that I know everyone's names and we've all had a little fun, let's get into today's lesson. You may keep your desks as is if you all agree to stay focused on the work that we are going through today." She said as she turned to write down the page number on the chalk board. In the meantime, the students were whispering excitedly to each other at the prospect of being able to sit so close to their friends.

It seemed that Flash wanted to take this opportunity to torment Peter with the teachers back turned.

"Hey, Penis." He whisper yelled across the room.

Peter ignored him, pretending to focus on finding the page in his text book.

"Hey, Penis." He called again. "I know you can hear me."

Peter looked up at him, glaring at him.

"What do you want flash?" He whispered back.

Flash simply raised his middle finger and snickered at him.

"Mr. Thompson." Miss Watson called from the front, a slight undertone of irritation in her voice, but more than that, a quiet authority that Peter had not noticed earlier.

The students froze. Flash was never called out on his antics.

"Care to explain to the class why you're flipping people off rather than finding your page?" She asked, smile completely gone from her face. And if Peter dare say so himself, she looked intimidating.

Flash looked taken aback, no one ever stopped him from teasing Peter. He plastered on an arrogant smile.

"Just having some fun, Miss Watson." He said in his most charming voice.

Miss Watson seemed to glare at him for a moment, the class was frozen, unsure of how she would proceed. She snapped the text book in her hand shut. Peter saw the look that came across Flash's face. Miss Watson was not afraid of him.

"I had hoped to not need to explain the basic life rules to someone who is basically an adult." She said, her tone even.

Peter felt his heart thumping, not a single teacher had stood up for him before. But finally, it was happening.

"If anyone in this class ever bullies or belittles another student, I will have none of it. You will get one chance to improve your behaviour, but after that there will be consequences." She looked around the room, finally settling her stare on Flash. "Do I make myself clear Mr. Thompson?"

"Yes, Miss Watson." He replied smoothly.

Miss Watson frowned, obviously catching on that Flash would be one to keep an eye on. She seemed to decide to let it go and called on a student to read out a paragraph from the text book. Peter simply looked over at Ned, and let out a breath. Ned looked over at him.

"I think I'm in love."

Peter simply rolled his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Pete, how was school?" A gentle voiced called across the large living room in the recently re-purchased Stark tower.

"Hey Ms. Potts." Peter called back, placing his back pack on the sofa. "Yeah it was alright, just school. We got a new teacher."

Pepper looked up at him from where she sat on the couch in her usual business attire. She looked relaxed with a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of her and a book in her hand.

"That's nice." She said with a smile. "What class do they teach?"

"Oh, uh, History. She's really nice. Ned has a crush on her." He blurted out quickly. "Please don't tell him I told you that." He said ducking his head.

Pepper just laughed and pretended to zip her lips shut.

"So, uh, what are you doing home so early?" He asked, but hurried to carry on after seeing her eye brow raise slightly. "Not that it's not nice seeing you here, I just mean that normally Mr. Stark – I mean, I just haven't seen you here during the day, on a Monday."

Pepper couldn't hold back a small chuckle as the boy fought to save himself. Holding up a hand she said, "Pete, hunny, it's fine."

Peter let out a small sigh.

"I worked Saturday and Sunday, before you and Ned came for dinner. So, I thought I would take today off instead. Besides, they can live without me for one day." She explained.

"Oh, okay."

Peter looked at her for a second, uncertainty playing in the back of his mind. He stepped forward, nervously playing with the leather fold at the other end of the long couch. He was seldom alone with Ms. Potts, and often uncertain of what to say to her when Mr. Stark wasn't with them. It was never awkward with Mr. Stark.

Pepper seemed to catch on to his slight discomfort. She sighed slightly.

"Tony has a meeting for another hour or so." She said, seemingly reading the boys mind.

"Oh, okay. Cool." Peter said, trying to hide how awkward he was feeling.

She smiled kindly at him.

"If you would like, you could do your homework up here and then go down to the lab with him when he gets back?" She offered.

Peter nodded, trying desperately not to show how awkward she made him feel.

"Yeah, yeah, sounds good. Uh. Should I stay in here or…?"

"Wherever you're most comfortable. Why not set up in the kitchen, I'll get us some snacks." She suggested,

Peter grabbed his back pack, eager to get stuck into his homework, while simultaneously wishing he didn't feel so awkward around Pepper.

"Yeah sounds good. But you don't need to get up if you don't want to. I mean I could grab us something and bring it to you." He offered.

"It's okay Pete, I'm hungry anyway. Why don't you get started and I'll bring something over once I get up."

"Okay. Thanks!" He grinned at her, hoping that she wouldn't think his awkwardness was him being rude towards her.

He hurried into the kitchen and set himself up on the counter top, pulling out his History homework. He still couldn't believe that they had guessed wrong! He had been so certain of his answer.

A few minutes later Pepper walked in to study the refrigerator and finally decided on what they would snack upon.

"You okay with chocolate mud cake Pete?"

He looked up, "Yeah, that sounds great Ms. Potts."

He looked back down at his homework. He felt a slight tinge of heat on his cheeks. He just never knew what to say around her! What he missed, however, was the small way in which Peppers face fell when he turned back to his homework.

She carefully cut him a large piece, and then a small piece for herself.

"Here you go, Pete." She said, cringing slightly at the way her voice sounded so hopeful for a second.

He stopped his work for a second, "Thank you Ms. Potts. This looks amazing."

"Thanks Pete. What homework are you working on?"

"Oh, uh, nothing interesting. Just history." He said, ducking his head slightly.

Pepper opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off.

"There they are!" Called a familiar voice.

Peppers face fell into a gentle smile as Tony walked through the kitchen to stand next to her. Peters head flew up and a bright smile filled his face upon seeing the older man.

"Tony," She greeted, accepting his kiss on her cheek. "I didn't expect you back for another hour."

He grinned and snuck in another kiss.

"Snuck out early." He said with a chuckle as he reached across the counter to slap a gentle hand on Peters shoulder. "How you doin' buddy?"

Peter grinned and nodded at him, "Good, thank you Mr. Stark. How was your day?"

He threw a casual arm around Peppers shoulder, "Good, kid. Good now that I'm not stuck in that god forsaken meeting." He said with a laugh.

Pepper hit his side playfully. He pouted at her, earning a small eye roll.

Peter just smiled, relieved that Mr. Stark was here. He liked Pepper, in fact, he admired Pepper. But for some reason, he just always felt so unsure of himself around her.

"Oh, Pete." Pepper spoke up suddenly. "Your Aunt called before you got here. She asked if you could stay the night. Her shift was extended so she won't get home until late. Is that okay with you?"

Peter felt excitement bubble in his chest. A whole afternoon and evening to spend with Mr. Stark!

"Yes!" He answered quickly. "I, uh, I mean yeah, that's cool."

Tony just laughed and patted the kids shoulder again as he walked behind Peter to see what he was working on.

Tony pulled an old shirt over his head as he walked towards the bed he shared with Pepper. It was almost mid-night, and he'd just finished up with the kid in the lab, and deciding that that was late enough for a school night, had sent him to head towards bed. He paused where he stood in his own room, watching Pepper for a moment.

"Everything okay, Hun?" He asked.

She looked up from the book she was reading, and nodded. She had been quiet all evening.

He moved again and began to crawl into bed next to her, adjusting the covers the get comfortable. Leaning over he gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before leaning his head on her shoulder, lazily eyeing off whatever she was reading.

"Are you sure?" He murmured.

She sighed slightly, putting her book down on her lap and leaning her head on Tony's.

"Does Peter like me?" She asked quietly.

Tony's brow furrowed slightly. The kid liked everyone.

"Yeah, why would you think he doesn't?"

She sat up straighter, at turned slightly to look at him.

"He always seems so awkward around me."

Tony gave her a look. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"You should have seen this afternoon before you got home. I think we said four things to each other before he just shut down and started looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but there. And then when you came in he just lit up and went back to normal." She looked at him, almost desperately. "Is it me? Am I doing something?"

Tony sighed and shook his head. Running a hand through his hair, before grabbing her hand, rubbing a finger over the engagement ring.

"The kid loves you." He said. "Maybe he's intimidated by you." He added, but then immediately regretted.

Pepper shot him a look.

"Why would I intimidate him? I'm always careful to be gentle when he's around."

"That's not what I meant." He said, but then continued to dig his own grave. "Well yes, that's what I meant. But, you know, you're Pepper Potts. The infamous Pepper Potts! Maybe he's scared of you."

She continued to stare at him.

"He's scared of me?" She asked, an eyebrow raising. "Me. He fine with Iron Man and the multiple weapons you carry on you. But it's me he's afraid of?"

Tony let out a deep sigh. Shaking his head slightly.

"Do you want me to talk with him?" He offered.

She shook her head, "No. I'm sure it will pass with time."

He nodded. He watched for a moment, before I small smirk came across his face.

"You know," He said moving to wraps his arms around her waist and nuzzle her neck. "You used to terrify me."

He felt her laugh slightly as she relaxed into him, allowing him to distract her from her thoughts for the evening.

Peter stood in the room that had become his in Stark tower. He wasn't sure when that had happened, but shortly after returning from Titan Mr. Stark had told him he was welcome to stay over as often as he wanted. This had caught him off guard considering that Mr. Stark had often tried to distance himself from him. A small part of him wondered what brought on the change, but another, more excited part of him was too happy to care. He knew that he had blacked out on Titan, and he had woken up surrounded by the others that he barely knew. He remembered so little from that time, other than sticking close to the doctor, and a ship arriving. His next memory was waking up in this very room, with Mr. Stark and Aunt May both next to him.

He shook his head at the memory and changed into his pyjamas. He quickly prepared his back pack for school, shoving his text books in, vaguely looking forward to tomorrows history lesson with Miss. Watson.


	3. Chapter 3

The day went quickly enough, he had most of his classes with either Ned or MJ, finding himself strangely looking forward to his classes with the latter. Finally, the last period came around and he and Ned took their seats in Miss. Watsons class room. She was on time today, early in fact. Having placed work sheets on the tables prior to everyone having arrived.

"Good after noon class." She greeted once all were seated. "I hope you've all had a good day so far. If you were one of the teams who lost yesterday's challenge, please have your homework on your desk and I will come around and check it while you work on the sheet that I've already placed on your tables."

The room was filled with students rummaging through notebooks for the homework sheet that had been handed out the previous day.

Peter flinched as something hit his face. Looking down at his desk he saw a crumpled note. Opening it, he read: _'Sucks to suck, Penis.'_

He rolled his eyes and crumpled the notes up again, ignoring Flash's triumphant smirk and the absence of homework on his desk.

"What's this?"

He whipped his head up. He had not noticed Miss. Watson standing in front of his desk, having made her over to him and Ned to check their homework.

"It's, uh, nothing!" He responded, almost pleading that she would not make a scene.

She frowned slightly, obviously not believing him, and held out her hand.

He sighed, and placed the crumpled note in her outstretched hand. She un-crumpled the note, a small flash on her face as she read it. He sat tensely, hoping that she would not say anything. She simply sighed and put the note in her pocket.

"I'm sorry Peter." She said so softly that he wasn't sure she had even spoken.

She simply picked up his homework and moved on. He let out the breath he didn't realise he had been holding. He watched her carefully in class, noticing that she still did not hesitate to discipline Flash when he spoke over her. In fact, she treated him the exact same way she treated other students. With kindness and respect, but not allowing herself to be walked upon, setting boundaries that Flash seemed determined to push at any chance. Finally, class came to an end, and while picking up his books, he heard her call him.

"Peter. Please come and see me for a second."

He looked over at Ned, a confused look on his face, before shrugging and walking over.

"Um, what's up Miss. Watson." He asked, not feeling awkward, but unsure as to why he was held back. He stood in front of her desk.

"Grab a seat Peter, I want to chat with you for a minute or two if that's okay."

He nodded and sat down in the closest desk. She came and sat in the one across from him, neatly folding her hands on the top. She looked at him for a second.

"Has Flash always bothered you?" She asked.

He felt taken aback by that questions. Most teachers simply ignored Flash's remarks, or purposefully turned a blind eye, knowing that his Father made several donations to the school.

"Um, uh, no." He lied. "But it's not that bad, really!"

She looked at him, a sad smile on her face.

"Peter. It's not okay. Would you like me to speak with him?"

"No!" He answered quickly. "No, no. Not that I don't appreciate it, Miss. Watson. I just, uh, I just think that it might make it worse."

She frowned. But before she could say anything further, there was a quick rap at the door before it burst open, revealing a well dressed man carrying flowers.

His reaction was instant. The hairs on his arm stood up. Alarm bells rang in his head. His spidey-sense was off the charts. He looked over at Miss. Watson, ready to jump out and defend her.

But she did the opposite of what he expected. She stood up and greeted the man with a smile.

"Hey, Dev!" Her smile taking over her face.

The man saw Peter, and smiled at him. A calculated smile that made Peters blood run cold. But he sat there, frozen, uncertain of what to do. He recognised the man of course, he was one of Mr. Starks least favourite people, but he had never met him or been near him, he had always attributed the bad sense he'd gotten when hearing about him or seeing him on T.V to his knowledge that Mr. Stark dis-liked the man. Dev Marton was an up and coming in the tech industry, and although he seemed to be making his millions, he was of no threat to Mr. Stark or the company.

"Sorry babe, I didn't realise you still had a kid in here. I just wanted to surprise you during your first week!"

Miss. Watson gave Peter a quick apologetic smile.

"I'll be one second hun. Why don't you sit at my desk while I finish with Peter?"

"Sounds great." He turned and sat down at Miss Watson's desk.

She came back and sat across from him. But he could barely register what she was saying, his spidey senses were too strong to ignore.

"You okay Peter?" She asked as he finally zoned back in.

"Wha- oh, uh, yeah. Thanks Miss. Watson but I should be fine. Besides I need to be getting home before Aunt May worries." He said standing up and backing out of the room and all put running through the hall way, his senses returning to normal out of the presence of that man. He stopped and took a deep breath. He'd never felt something that strong before. That man was trouble, but he couldn't attack a man for bring is girlfriend flowers!

He stood still for a second, wondering if he should call Mr. Stark.

"No, no. Don't be silly." He said to himself. And walked quickly down the hall, sparing quick glances over his shoulder, a large part of him wanting to go back and pull Miss. Watson out as well. But he knew he had to make his train, May would worry if he didn't make it home on time.

Chloe stood from the desk, a quizzical expression on her face as she watched Peter all but run from the classroom. She looked over at Dev who looked completely relaxed sitting at her desk and scrolling through his phone.

As if sensing she was watching, he looked up at her, and then at the door where he had secretly watched the kid flee.

"That was weird, right?" She asked him.

He shrugged, "Teen agers are weird." And shoved his phone back into his pocket. "Sorry for interrupting. I honestly didn't realise you had a kid in here."

She waved her hand at him, brushing off his apology.

"Don't worry about it. You couldn't have known."

"Everything okay? Was there a reason you needed to chat with him?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

She smiled at his apparent concern for the boy.

"I worry about that boy. I've only had two classes with him but already I've heard so much about him."

She stood and came to sit on the edge of her desk, legs brushing against dev's.

"Apparently, his parents and uncle died in the invasion, so now he lives with his aunt. But people are saying that he keeps claiming to have some internship with Stark Industries and that he knows Spiderman. He's a nice kid, but I wonder if he's just so desperate for more friends that he's making up stuff to get attention."

Dev listened, grimacing slightly as she mentioned Stark. She noticed this and chuckled slightly.

"I know that you two don't get along in a board room, but what is it about him that you don't like?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Stark is outdated. I know that he has done amazing things for the city, even the world, but it's time for him to step aside, let someone else come up with the ideas!" He whined.

Chloe placed a comforting hand on his arm.

"Your time will come." She assured him. "You have great ideas, and the new phone line will definitely be something to challenge him!"

"Poor kid." Dev said.

Chloe tilted her head quizzically.

"If he really knew Tony Stark he'd know what a piece of crap the guys is."

"May, I'm home!" Peter called out, pulling an ear phone out as he walked through the small kitchen.

May walked looked up from where she was folding laundry with a smile, a tired smiled, Peter noted.

"How was school today?"

Peter flinched, thinking of his encounter with Dev Marton, but quickly brushed it off, not wanting to worry his aunt.

"Yeah, it was alright. Just the normal." He said walking to his room, already pulling his Spiderman suit from his closet.

Holding it in his hands he walked out so he could see May while he spoke.

"Is it okay if I just go on a quick patrol before dinner?" He asked, wide eyed, hoping she would say yes.

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

"Of course. Just make sure you don't take on anything too big."

"Thanks May!" He exclaimed, jumping over and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Make sure you call Tony if you get stuck!" She called after him as he headed back to his room to change.

"Okay!" He called back.

"And make sure you're back for dinner!"

"Okay, May!"

He quickly changed into the suit and slipped out of the window, then, making sure no one was watching and that his backpack was secure, swung off down the street.

He had a particular destination in mind tonight, but he knew he had to be careful because he would need to go right past Stark tower to get there, and Mr. Stark had been so over protective lately, he didn't want raise alarm bells, even though he worshipped the man. Ever so carefully, he hoped on the roof of a train that would take him close to his destination, and when he was three blocks off, he jumped off at the station, drawing odd looks and surprised faces as he walked through. This wasn't going to work, he needed to be inconspicuous. Here he was basically asking for attention. He darted off once outside the station getting to the top of a four storey building and threw his clothes on top of the suit, removing the mask, and carefully making his way back to the alley below without being seen.

Feeling better, he walked back out onto the street, and continued forward. Before him stood Stark tower, still a few blocks away, but close enough that he felt antsy. About one block from the tower, he turned and made his way toward a smaller high rise, the home of Marton Tech. inc. He stood before the building, but he felt no sense of danger. What was it that he had sensed before then? Perhaps it was the man himself who posed a threat to Peter. He decided the best course of action was to watch the building, and so, finding himself and hidden spot, he watched the door.

It felt like hours that he watched, the sun had started to go down and he knew he would have to go home soon, but he knew it, he just knew that there was something fishy going on. Just as he was about to give up, a black limousine pulled up. Something in Peter was suddenly on edge. He knew it, Dev Marton was in the limousine. The door opened, and there he stood. He looked about him as he stepped out onto the side walk, adjusting his suit as he did. He looked about him, as though he knew he was being watched. He looked annoyed, like a man who had been denied something he truly wanted, but was used to receiving anything he asked for. He pulled out his phone, and apparently whoever had messaged him changed his mood, for he began to laugh lightly at whatever he read.

Shoving his phone in his pocket, he grinned as he walked into his building.

Peter took a moment to recover. Even from this distance he felt the impact of the man's presence. He briefly considered calling Mr. Stark once again, but knew that in doing so he would face a lecture. Rather, he stood, brushed himself off and headed home to May.


	4. Chapter 4

Wednesday came and went without incident, though Peter did follow Dev Marton on his patrol that evening. Thursday came along, much to his delight, being that he would usually see Mr. Stark on Thursday afternoons, not leaving until after dinner.

He stepped into the elevator to go up to Tony and Peppers apartment and came face-to-face with the woman herself.

"Oh, uh, hi Ms. Potts!" He greeted he with a smile.

She returned her own friendly smile, but gestured to the ear piece she wore, indicating she was on a call.

"Hi Pete." She whispered to him while he could hear the other person speaking with his enhanced hearing.

He stood next to her, that same awkward feeling returning to him whenever he was alone with her. He looked over and gave her another awkward smile, beginning to fidget with the straps of his bag as the lift began to rise to the apartment.

After what felt like an eternity he stepped off with her, both of them greeted by Mr. Stark. He gently ran from where he stood a few feet away to greet Pepper with a kiss and a coffee as she began to speak with the man on the phone. She returned his kiss silently and accepted the coffee with a grateful smile, then continued walking to their home office.

"Pete!" Mr. Stark greeted him warmly.

"Hey Mr. Stark! I hope you don't mind, but I thought of some new ideas that we could use to improve the suit. But I'm not really sure how to do any of it, so could you show me?"

Tony chuckled, "Of course kiddo. Let's grab some food and we'll go down to the lab."

They walked together toward the kitchen, Peter depositing his bag on the couch as he did.

"May told me you went on patrol the last two nights. Anything interesting? Mr. Stark asked.

Peter looked at him for a second. It almost seemed as though Mr. Stark was trying to look innocent.

"No, no." He replied after a second. "Just the normal. Kittens, grandmas, and flips. You know. Normal."

He looked around the room as he said this, not quite comfortable with lying to Mr. Stark.

"Aha." Mr. Stark said slowly. "Sure, sure."

After a moment silence, they reached the kitchen, Mr. Stark pulling out some left-over pizza from the fridge. Mr. Stark watched him for a second.

"Nothing at all?" He asked again.

Pete steadied himself and gave direct eye contact.

"Mhmm." He answered, stuffing his mouth with pizza.

"Okay, so why do I have Dev Marton telling me that Spiderman is following him around?" Mr. Stark asked, a severe frown on his face.

Peter chocked on his food, and coughed it up, before swallowing. He took a moment to recover, Mr. Stark just watched him.

"Oh. Uh. No, that uh, that wasn't me." He said, knowing that was the dumbest thing he could have said.

Mr. Stark just sighed and ran a hand over his face. Peter couldn't help but notice then how much older he looked than when they had met a few years ago. He looked so tired and worn.

"Pete. He has video footage of you." He said

Peter felt himself go cold. Mr. Stark noticed his reaction.

"You okay Pete?" He asked, concern etching his voice.

Peter struggled to recover.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Just, that's a bit weird, you know. Having footage of that."

He risked a look into Mr. Stark eyes. They were hard, like they were when Peter wouldn't tell him how he injured himself, or when he told Mr. Stark about flash, or when he had seen him fight Cap.

"Anything you need to tell me, kid?"

He let the pizza drop onto the bench and let his face fall into his hand. He had messed up. Hard. This might be worse than the ferry incident. He stayed like that for a second.

"Pete?"

He looked up, hand still covering his mouth. He looked right into Mr. Starks eyes, shame building in him.

"Mr Stark. I took off my mask."

Mr. Stark stared at him for a long moment.

"When?"

"When I was watching him. I took it off and wore my suit under my clothes. I'm so sorry Mr. Stark." He confessed as he felt the tears building, "I'm so sorry!"

Mr. Stark wiped a hand down his face and then leaned heavily against the counter.

"Shit kid." He said in a low voice.

Peter stood there, knowing he had failed him, and he allowed the tears to fall.

To his surprise, Mr. Stark left his place on the other side of the bench and came stand next to him, placing a gentle arm around his shoulders.

"It's okay Pete, we'll figure this out." He said.

Peter let his head fall towards Mr. Stark. They simply stood there for a moment.

Mr. Stark stepped back, hand still on Peters shoulder, and looked him in the eye.

"Let's get down to the lab, I need you to tell me why you were following him, and where you were. Friday." He said, addressing the AI, "Please divert any calls."

"Yes boss." Came her response.

Peter felt miserable, he'd know that being caught following Dev Marton would result in some form of warning, but he didn't expect the consequences to be this dire.

He rose to his feet from the bar stool he had been seated on, his head hanging low, not wanting to risk looking into Mr. Starks eyes. He felt Mr. Stark's hand leave his shoulder and watched him walk towards to kitchen doorway. Not only had he let himself down, he had made Mr. Stark angry. Maybe he would take the suit away again!

Head still low he followed him to the lift that would take them down. The doors opened and they stepped in and punched the desired number in.

After a few moments, a few, heart wrenching moments for Peter, he heard Mr. Stark sigh once again, and that hand returned to his shoulder. He felt surprised, he had expected Mr. Stark to give him the silent treatment, or even a lecture. The doors opened into the entry way to the lab.

Peter loved this lab, over the last year he had collected many happy memories here, also with Mr. Stark. He looked in the glass walls, fully expecting this to be the last time he would ever be welcomed here. Mr. Stark punched in his code and swung the glass door open, holding it for Peter.

Walking to the work bench nearest to Mr. Starks computers, Peter pulled up a stool and sat down, head still hanging. Mr Stark followed, eyes never leaving the boy.

He spoke after a moments silence.

"Pete." He began, "I'm not going to take the suit off you."

Peter's head flew up, he felt surprised as this.

"You-you're not?"

Mr. Stark shook his head, then pulled up a stool to sit across from Peter.

"Listen, uh Kid." He started, clearing his throat and not sounding too sure of himself at all. "We all make mistakes."

Peter looked at him wide eyed and a little teary.

Mr. Stark looked away for a second and then looked back at him to continue.

"Sometimes, when you live a certain kind of life, there are certain kinds of risks that come with that. And you knew, hell, even I knew, that one of those risks was that one day someone would find out who you really are."

Peter just continued to stare at him.

"I mean," Continued Mr. Stark, "Obviously, I chose to reveal my identity. But sometimes life makes decisions for us. And there is nothing we can do. We just have to roll with it."

Peter was uncertain of this. He had never seen Mr. Stark react so calmly to anything before. Normally he would freak out, but here he sat before him. It was something he had begun to notice over the last year; Mr. Starks sudden patience with him.

He nodded.

"So, uh, what do I do?"

"Well, kiddo. The first thing we do is find out if he actually knows who you are, or if he just saw Spiderman." Mr. Stark said, a little light returning to his eyes, and a comforting smile drawing across his face.

"But I took of my mask!"

"But, you said that you wore your suit under your other clothes. There is a chance that he may not even connect some random kid watching him, and Spiderman." Mr. Stark countered. "So," He continued, "Why were you watching Dev Marton?"

Peter took a shaky breath in, leaning forward slightly, and also feeling a little foolishness. Perhaps his sense hadn't hit him that badly, maybe he was tired and that's why he overreacted.

"It's, uh, I mean, I'm not sure that I was right." He began, looking up at Mr. Stark. "I just got a feeling."

"What kind of feeling kid?"

"Like, my Spidey senses went into overdrive when I met him!"

"Wait, hold it there. You met him?" Mr. Stark said, something like vague irritation coming into his voice.

Peter hesitated, then nodded.

"He, uh, he came into my classroom."

"Why was he in your class room?" Mr. Stark pressed, eyes hard and jaw set.

"I think he's dating my teacher, he came after class ended and didn't realise I was there."

Mr. Stark gave him a hard look.

"Why were you hanging back after class? You know your Aunt likes you to go straight home unless you have practice!"

Peter cringed slightly, he was going to have to tell Mr. Stark about Flash.

"Well, um. Miss Watson asked to see me after class, because, um…" He trailed off.

Mr. Stark waved his hand slightly, gesturing for him to continue.

"Because what?"

Peter let out a breath.

"Because Flash was bothering me again, and she wanted to help me, but I told her not to because it would just make it worse!" He blurted out.

There was a moment of silence.

"Pete, why didn't you tell me Flash was bothering you again?"

"Because!" He looked around, feeling slightly exasperated. "You would freak out, like you did last time. And I can deal with it on my own!"

Mr. Stark looked slightly taken aback.

"I don't freak out." He stated, quietly defensive.

"You do! You and Aunt May freak out anytime something happens!"

"Well maybe she does, but I don't." Mr. Sark retorted.

"You do! You're worse than her." Peter said, hoping that his point would get across.

Mr. Stark looked at the boy, then crossed his arms.

"I would like to remind you that we are currently sitting here because of a mistake that you made because you didn't tell me, and still haven't, by the way, what was going on."

Peter felt like he'd been slapped in the face by this.

"Spill."

Peter sighed again, pouring out his story.

"He just walked into the room and my Spidey senses went crazy! It's like, I've never had them go off so bad before! And so as soon as I could I just left the room, but half way down the hall I thought I should turn back and get Miss Watson, but then I thought that Aunt May would freak if I missed my train, and so I didn't. But then I went to spy on him, but I didn't find anything and – "

"Pete." Mr. Stark interrupted, struggling to stay on track with what Peter said, the boy had spoken so quickly.

"I don't know, Mr. Stark. I – I just have a feeling."

Mr. Stark waited a moment before he spoke again.

"Look, kid. Here's the thing. Everyone knows that I'm Iron Man. And everyone knows that Spider man, that's you, are connected to me. And so, when Spiderman start's tailing one of my business rivals, it doesn't look good. You with me?"

Peter felt foolish, he had not taken this into account.

"Mr. Stark, I-"

"Nuh-uh" He interrupted, holding up a finger. "Let me finish."

Peter found himself wishing that Mr. Stark would return to his strangely calm manner of only a minute earlier.

"You need to think before you act."

Peter felt irritation rise in his chest. He was treating him like a child!

"I did think!"

"Really? Because it sounds to me like you reacted to a feeling." Mr. Stark stated.

"Not just a feeling. My senses! They were –"

"Not the point," Mr. Stark cut him off, leaving the boy stammering slightly, "The point is that you didn't think about how your actions would affect other people."

Peter looked down. He hated this, mainly because he knew, deep down, that Mr. Stark was right.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"It's okay kid, it's just that," He paused, purposefully taking a breath to calm himself. "I just couldn't live with myself if… you know." He let his words fade, forcing something back.

Peter leant forward, placing a hand on his mentor's arm.

"But I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here!"

Mr. Stark took a moment, obviously trying to collect himself. Peter could have sworn he saw tears in Mr. Stark eyes. He released a shaky breath.

"I know, Pete." He replied, returning his hand to his shoulder for a second.

"Alright, let's get down to business, how to figure out how much Dev Marton knows."

"Do you think he'll be mad at you because I followed him?" Peter asked, worry filling his voice.

"Don't worry about it kid," Mr. Stark assured him, "I'll deal with that when it comes up."


	5. Chapter 5

Tony sat in his lab, typing away on his computer, a simple, but effective code to break into the security cameras on Dev Marton's building. He worried about the kid, he knew that he didn't need to, but he did. He frowned, he felt a memory trying to push its way forward.

"No." He whispered to himself. He couldn't. He couldn't let that one through. He typed faster, throwing as much energy into the code as he could.

Image pushed its way through. An orange planet.

"No!" He whispered loudly again to himself.

A small piece of the conversation he'd had with the kid just earlier that evening broke through.

_"I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."_

He violently pushed himself away from his desk, his heart beginning to pound in his chest. He needed a distraction. He stood shakily. The unwanted memory came forth.

_"Mr Stark? I don't feel so good…"_

"No!" He yelled to the empty room. Stumbling over to the work space he had sat at with the boy, only hours ago.

The memory was stuck on replay.

_"Mr Stark? I don't feel so good…"_

He felt cold, yet hot at the same time. He could feel the boy vanishing in his arms.

"No!" He yelled again, he clamped his hands over his ears, "No, no, no, no!" He screamed, something shattering next to him.

He let out a strangled cry as the image of Peter's lifeless, crumbling face replayed in his mind. He didn't feel someone shaking him.

"Tony!" Came a seemingly far away cry.

He moaned and shook his head, tears streaming down his face, hand still clamped to his ears, crumbling to the floor.

_"Mr Stark? I don't feel so good…"_

"No!" He screamed and threw his arms out suddenly, hitting something behind him.

A shocked cry broke through, breaking him out of the loop. He sat, curled on the floor, the outside world slowly returning to him. He heard a soft sniff behind him, and felt a soft, smaller hand fall on his shoulder.

"Tony?" She asked, hesitant, mover closer behind him.

He felt her hand run over his back, pulling him back to reality.

He let out a shaky breath, and let his head fall, not bothering to wipe away his tears. She moved to be next to him, her hand moving up to his hair line, drawing soothing patterns, moving closer to gently kiss his temple.

"It's okay Tony." She quietly assured him.

He lifted his head just slightly, so he could look her in the eye. He noticed a red mark on her cheek. He felt a moment of panic, and lifted his hand to caress the area.

"Did I - ?" He began.

"It's okay." She assured him. "It was an accident."

Guilt consumed him.

"Pep, I'm so sorry." He rushed, turning to offer his comfort, and express his remorse.

She let out a sad chuckle.

"Tony, it's fine. You didn't even see me there."

He sighed, accepting her forgiveness, and allowing his head to fall on her shoulder. They just sat on the floor together in silence for a few moments. Finally, Tony lifted his head.

"Did I do the right thing?" He asked her, looking desperately into her eyes.

She looked at him, slightly confused.

"Erasing their memories?"

She just looked at him, a sad smile on her face.

"I don't know, Tony." She began, he groaned and let his face fall back onto her shoulder. "But I do know that none of them even remember their loved ones being gone. None of them know the pain – ." A sob caught in her throat, cutting her of.

"I watch families in the parks sometimes." She continued shakily. "None of them know that they lost their kids, or parents. And I know that I'm happy that they will never remember that grief."

She ran a hand through his hair.

"But you, you remember it every single day." Leaning down to rest her head on his, she murmured. "You are the most selfless man I know."

He held her tighter, breathing in her scent, needing to be held in return.

"I love you, Tony." She whispered.

"I love you too, Pep." He returned.

They stayed like that a moment longer before he moved. Kneeling on the floor was hurting his back.

"Right." He said, clearing his throat slightly, quickly wiping away any remaining tears on his sleeve. He felt tired, probably the result of endless worry and restless nights.

She just looked at him with concerned eyes, a hand on his arm.

"I don't know about you, but I could go to bed." He stated.

She raised an eyebrow.

"What. A good cry and panic attack is enough to knock anyone out."

Pepper, frowned at this, but didn't comment. Instead, after he lifted himself off of the floor, she accepted his offered hand and stood next to him, taking his hand as they left the lab together.

She held him in her arms as he slept that night, guarding him from the nightmares and memories that often haunted him in his sleep.

"Hey Aunt May!" He called as he walked through the apartment door, just under an hour after leaving Stark tower that evening.

"Oh, hey!" She called back. "How was your evening?"

"Yeah, really good!" He smiled to himself.

Despite his frustration at Mr. Starks protectiveness, he always did end up enjoying his time there. After their chat, they had set to work formulating a plan to ensure Peter's identity remained secure, and to see if Dev Marton had any evidence of his real identity. It had turned into a busy afternoon, but even though he knew that Mr. Stark was probably annoyed at him, he still enjoyed being in the man's presence.

"That's good honey." She said, coming forward and rubbing her hand on his shoulder.

"How was your day?" He asked, heading toward his room to throw his back pack down.

"Good, busy." Was all she said. "So I was thinking, your birthday is coming up soon. Do you want to do anything?"

"Uh, not really" He called back, then walking out of his room he spoke, "Maybe just hang with Ned, and uh, maybe MJ?" He said, he cringed feeling his eyes heat at up MJ's name.

Aunt May gave him a teasing look.

"Ooh. MJ huh?"

He groaned and threw his head back, embarrassed at her joking.

She simply laughed.

"How about we go for dinner, the four of us?"

"Oh, no." He said quickly, knowing that they didn't really have money to spend on his birthday. "We don't have to do that, maybe we could all just watch a movie here?" He offered. He didn't want to be a burden.

She gave him a sceptical look.

"You want them to eat my roast turkey?"

"Ned loves your roast turkey!" It was a lie.

She paused for a moment, unbelieving.

"Has Mr. Stark mentioned anything about your birthday?" She asked as she returned to her place on the couch, picking up the book she had been reading when he entered the apartment.

"Oh, uh, no." He said. He wondered if Mr. Stark even knew when his birthday was.

"Well he mentioned it to me the other day, I think him and Pepper want to do something with you. So make sure you find out when they want to do something so we don't clash dates."

He looked at her, surprised.

"Mr. Stark knows my birthday?"

"Of course he does."

He stared at her for a moment longer.

She put her book down.

"What is it Peter?"

"Well, he never mentioned it, and we've known each other for a few years now."

"I know. It's just one of the reasons I have against him." She replied, attempting to pick up her book again.

He nodded, hoping to appease her. He knew she didn't exactly trust Mr. Stark, and he didn't want to give her more reasons to dislike the man he considered his mentor.

He always knew! Well, now he thought of it, that did make sense. The man had easily figured out his identity, surely he would know his birthday as well. He walked back to his room and sat at his desk, pulling out his homework

Dev Marton sat in his office in the building they were currently renting for Marton Tech Inc. He was a proud man, and for good reason, or so he told himself. Unlike some of the competition, he had not been born into money, but had worked scrubbing plates to get by, and even juggled multiple jobs to get through a local community college. He never went to MIT, but he was an intelligent man with a growing tech company. He was man in control, and his aim was to topple to top tech company in the world, Stark Industries. He would do anything to hold the power, the influence and the wealth that Stark possessed in his hands. And so, when the security guard noticed a small figure of red and blue watching him, he jumped on the opportunity to attack. Preparing an email, he had sent an attachment of the CCTV footage that captured Spiderman's movements. He had grinned, now was his time.

_"Stark,_

_I am well aware that we have our differences. But wouldn't you agree that sending your little friend to spy on me is a bit much?_

_Regards,_

_Dev Marton"_

He had clicked send, then pulled out his phone. He had been fairly confident that Tony would call quickly once he noticed the heading of the email. One minute passed. Then two. Then, his phone rang.

"Dev Marton." He answered, struggling to keep a professional tone.

"Cut the crap Marton, why are you sending me videos of Spiderman?" Tony had snapped.

Dev smiled, everyone had been able to see the amount of time that Iron Man was spending with Spiderman. It was clear that the two would happily die for each other. He was hoping to use that.

"I'm sorry. I was hoping you would offer me and explanation." He retorted.

"Explanation for what? Spiderman is free to go where he pleases."

"Oh, I'm sure he is. Just as long as he gets Iron Mans permission first." He snarled.

There was a pause on the other end, a pause that made Dev think, one that gave him an idea.

"Why is he following me?"

"I didn't send him, Marton." Stark glowered through the phone.

"Well tell him to back off!" He snapped, and then abruptly ended the call.

A thought had come to him. He felt a smirk creep up on his face. He knew just how he was going to get to Tony Stark.


	6. Chapter 6

"Miss Watson?"

The teacher looked up from her desk where she sat preparing for the final class of the week, a class that was not supposed to arrive for another ten minutes. MJ watched as the friendly teacher gave her a kind smile, something that only vaguely helped settle her nerves.

"MJ, how can I help?" She asked with a smile.

MJ walked into the room and, pulling up an extra wheelie chair that Miss Watson had brought in after her first day, sat down at the end of the desk, looking slightly nervous.

"Can I ask you something?"

Miss Watson put down her pen and watched the girl, nodding for her to continue.

MJ cleared her throat and sat up straighter, projecting as much confidence as she could.

"I need some help with something." She began, hating that her voice lacked its usual strength.

"Of course MJ, you know I'm always happy to help." The teacher offered, touching MJ's arm reassuringly. She looked at her with gentle eyes.

"It's about something at home." MJ began, a wave of anxiety spreading through her. "My parents are getting divorced."

She felt foolish as soon as she said it. She must sound like a little kid whining when so many others had it worse. She knew that most of the kids in her year level had divorced parents, why should she deserve any extra sympathy? But, to her mild surprise, and supressed delight, Miss Watson did not blow this off as a trivial matter. Her hand returned to MJ's forearm in a comforting way.

"I'm sorry to hear that, MJ." She offered softly. "How are you handling it?"

MJ blinked back the tears that had come forth, struggling to remain nonchalant.

"Fine, I guess."

Miss Watson looked as though she did not believe her.

"MJ, this is a hard thing to go through. It's okay to not be okay." She said quietly.

MJ merely nodded, unsure of how to continue the conversation. She was glad she had shared this, but she wasn't sure how to respond to the sympathy she received.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Miss Watson asked.

MJ hesitated, opened her mouth, and then shut it again.

"Nah. I just wanted to tell someone." She said, forcing her face to remain passive and she began to rise out of the chair. "Thanks for listening."

With that she turned and began to walk towards the door.

"MJ." Miss Watson called, stopping the teen as she came to the doorway.

MJ turned, looking back at the teacher, who still sat at her desk, writing something down on a small sticky note.

"If you need anything, this is my work number." She said, holding out the sticky note to MJ. "If there is an emergency." She added quickly.

MJ stood, taken aback by the teacher's kind offer. Then she realised, that Miss Watson had read right through her stony façade. Hesitating for a moment, she walked back in and grabbed the sticky note, mumbled her thanks, and took her leave.

"So you told Mr. Stark about your senses?" Asked Ned as he and Peter walked toward their final class of the day together.

Nodding, Peter hoped that at least Ned would understand why he had taken the course of action that he did.

"Yeah, but he didn't really want to hear about it. Just said that I should think it through next time!"

Ned was silent for half a second, books held to his chest, and backpack firmly on his back, around him the loud sounds of students walking to their classes and calling out the friends.

"Well, what if he's right?" he asked.

Peter's head snapped up to glare at Ned.

"Wha – dude!"

"Well, did you think about Mr. Starks business before you followed him?"

"Well, no!" Peter admitted, but then continued, "But I didn't think that he would assume that Mr. Stark sent me!"

Ned just sent him a look.

"So you think that I don't think things through?" He asked, thoroughly offended and mildly annoyed.

"Well," Ned began, "Sometimes you just, you know, react."

"Name one time."

"Like when you ran out of homecoming and took down Mr. Starks plane."

"Yeah but I saved the day!" Peter said defensively.

"You destroyed part of Coney Island!"

Peter huffed, his jaw a little set, now feeling very irritated with his best friend as they walked into their history class together.

Sitting in their usual seats, Peter took out his notebook and pen, purposefully ignoring Ned.

"Dude, come on. You know he's just worried about you." Ned whispered over to him.

Peter supressed a groan.

"He offered me a position on the Avengers, but then he went back to treating me like a kid!" He whispered back.

"Peter, we are kids."

This was only met with an eye roll.

"Good afternoon class." Miss Watson greeted from the front.

A few students mumbled back their greetings, most of them tired from the day, but happy to be in the presence of the new teacher, who was a growing favourite among the students.

"Today I have prepared a special presentation for you, that will involve one of the country's top tech business owners coming in to share in today's lesson!" She began.

The room began to buzz, could it be?

Peter sat up straight, this was bad. Very bad. He looked over at Ned, who also looked tense.

"Is Iron Man coming here?" Flash asked, a very small amount of excitement coming through his voice.

Miss Watson chuckled slightly.

"No, Flash." She said, the room's excitement dissipated slightly, only an air of curiosity remained, who could the guest possibly be, if not Tony Stark? "Today you'll be meeting someone very special to me."

Peters arm hairs stood up, his senses tingling.

"Ned…" He whispered, casting a furtive glance his way.

"Dev Marton will be joining us." She announced.

A few students in the room deflated, having hoped against hope to be able to finally meet an avenger. But others became excited once again, some of them even owning Marton's phones.

"Lucky for Peter, that way he won't be embarrassed when Iron Man doesn't know him!" Flash called across the room.

"Flash!" Miss Watson scolded, to little effect.

Peter barely noticed, he felt overwhelmed, his hearing picking up the sound of a man's footsteps in the hall, a hand landing on the door handle. He sat, frozen at his desk.

"There he is, Dev Marton!" Miss Marton called cheerfully.

Peter barely heard her, she sounded distant. She said something else, followed by a small applause in the room. He felt something kick his leg.

"Psst. Peter!" Ned whispered frantically.

"Wha.."

"Peter!" Ned whispered again, glancing towards the front, not wanting to draw attention.

Peter scrunched his eyes close for a second, and forced himself to focus on his breathing, eventually able to recover.

"I'm good, Ned." He said after a moment.

Ned looked worried, but nodded and looked but up to the front, occasionally glances Peters way.

Peter tried to listen to what Dev Marton was saying. He was talking about the use of technology in the Cold War, but he could barely pay attention.

The class seemed to drag on. Finally, the bell rung. The other students groaned, seemingly having enjoyed Dev Marton's presentation. But this did not hinder their excitement to leave and students began to pack away their books.

"Remember, read pages two hundred through two-fifteen for next week! Have a wonderful weekend!"

Students walked past her, waving goodbye the her and Dev Marton.

Peter stuck close to Ned, ducking his head, hoping to avoid any eye contact. He felt uneasy, as though just looking at the man would reveal his secret. They made it to the doorway when she called him back.

"Oh, Peter!" She called to him, seemingly oblivious to his mood in her rush to pack away her things and spend time with her boyfriend. "Can I speak with you a moment?"

Peter turned slowly, looking directly at Miss Watson, desperately avoiding eye contact with the man in the room.

"Yes, Miss Watson?" He asked, only taking a step or two away from Ned, who had also stopped, not wanting to leave his friend alone.

"I wanted to apologise to you." She began.

Peter was surprised by this, and unsure of why she felt she owed an apology.

"Flash was unkind to you earlier and I did not step in as I should have. In the future, you can be sure that I will take further steps to prevent this." She explained, voice kind but serious.

Peter ducked his head, watching Dev Marton out of the corner of his eye. He could feel the man's eyes on him.

"Thanks Miss Watson." He mumbled, eager to leave.

"Have a good weekend Peter." She said with a soft smile. "You too Ned!" She called to him.

They walked into the hall together, Peter looking a little shell shocked, his hand absent-mindedly on Ned's arm. He looked up at his friend.

"Dude, I think you're on to something. That guy has a weird vibe." Ned said, attempting to keep his tone light.

Peter just nodded.

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

"I d'no man." Peter mumbled back. Then tightening his grip on Ned's arm, practically dragged his friend away from the room and towards their lockers.

He opened his, attempting to think. Ned leaned on the locker next to his.

"You should call Mr. Stark."

"What, no. I can't!"

"Why not Peter? It's clear this guy is bad news if your senses reacted that strongly! And Mr. Stark is already worried about you interacting with the guy! You should tell him."

"No. He'll just freak out." Peter argued, closing his locker and shoving books in his bag.

They began to walk out of the school quickly where Ned could already see his Mum's car waiting for him.

"He'll freak out more if you don't tell him."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him!"

"But that's what he told you off for last time! For not telling him. Peter, you have to tell him!" Ned urged.

Peter looked over at his friend.

"Okay." He sighed. "Next time I see him, I'll let him know."

"What, no!" Ned retorted as Peter picked up his pace. "You have to tell him now!" He called, now slightly behind his friend.

They made it outside, Mrs. Leeds beeped her horn to get Ned's attention. He waved quickly over to her.

"Peter!" He tried again. This time Peter stopped and turned to look at his friend.

"Mr. Stark is just worried. If you tell him at least he can help out. Besides, you'd be able to spend more time there if you were honest with him."

Peter stared at him for a moment.

"I'm not that desperate for his attention you know."

"Nobody said that!" Ned countered. "But you clearly care about him, and he cares about you. Peter, think about it. He's the busiest man on earth, but he always makes time for two people. Pepper, and you."

Peter couldn't look Ned in the eye.

"Dude, you missed your train."

Peter turned and groaned.

"We'll give you a ride." Ned said.

He walked into the apartment and headed straight for his room, opening his window, he leant out and waved down at the car below, letting them know he'd gotten in okay. The car honked and drove away down the street.

Peter pulled himself back into the room, discarding his bag on his bedroom floor. Throwing himself on his bed he let out a frustrated sigh. What a day it had been. But despite his gratitude for the ride home, he couldn't help but still feel annoyed at Ned. He had been hoping that Ned would take his side, but instead, found that he had been harassed about calling Mr. Stark.

Thinking of this, Peter pulled his phone out of his back pocket, idly toying it in his hands before pressing the side button to activate the cracked screen.

He looked at the image of himself and Aunt May, the woman who cared for him so dearly. The woman who was currently working the night shift. Remembering this, he put down the phone and sat up, pulling his Spider suit out of his backpack and was in the process of taking his shirt off when Ned's nagging voice came back into his mind. Letting out an angry huff, he let his shirt fall back over him and picked up the phone again.

He scrolled through his contacts looking for Mr. Starks number. His finger hovered over it for a second before he swallowed his pride and pressed down.


	7. Chapter 7

"Tony's phone, this is Pepper."

"Oh," Came a small voice at the end of the line, "Uh, okay. Hi Ms. Potts. It's me, Peter."

Pepper smiled at Peter's polite introduction to their call.

"Hey Pete, how was your day?" She asked warmly.

"Umm, yeah good. Hey Ms. Potts, I don't want to be rude or anything, because I really do want to chat, but, uh, is Mr. Stark there? There's just something I might need help with." He blurted out.

Pepper allowed the concern she felt etch her face.

"Peter, is everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Well, no. I'm not sure."

There was a moment of silence.

"Pete?"

"Actually, you know what. I'm sure it's fine. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"Wait, no Pete. Hold on." She said quickly, getting a sense that the teen really did need help, but just wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Look, Tony's just in the hallway outside my office." She could see him through the slight crack in her office door as he spoke in another language using his earpiece. "Give me one second and I'll put him on."

"Oh. Okay. I mean, if his busy that's totally fine. I understand, that's cool."

Getting up from her desk she walked quickly across the room.

"Don't be silly Peter." She reprimanded him gently, "Tony and I always have time for you."

As she said this she arrived at the door and pushed it open further to get the man in questions attention. She turned the phone, showing the contact name. He nodded and motioned for one second.

"He's just going to finish his call and then he'll chat with you Pete." She updated him.

"Oh, okay. Thanks." He said.

Tony excused himself, quite tersely, from the conversation he had been having, and quickly took the phone out of Pepper's hand. He hesitated before lifting it to his ear. Pepper gave him a look. He lifted it up,

"One sec Pete." He spoke quickly, before lowering the phone and muffling the mic against his chest.

"What's up?" He whispered to Pepper.

"He just called and said he might need your help." She whispered back.

Tony raised his eyebrow, she could see the worry entering his mind. Reassuringly, she placed a hand on his arm.

"Did he say what was going on?"

She shook her head, slightly sad.

He just nodded, then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as thanks, before lifting the phone back up.

"Hey bud, sorry about that, Pep say's you might need a hand with something. Everything alright?"

Pepper watched him for a second, barley able to make out the voice on the other end from where she stood. But she could hear how quickly and frantically Peter spoke. She could also gauge its severity from Tony's reaction. His eyes hardened and his jaw set. He gave Pepper a hard look, one that she knew not to take personally, one that she knew was meant for whatever Peter had said. She lifted a comforting hand to his arm as she leant against her office door frame, silently urging him to remain calm as he spoke to the boy. Tony stood rigid in front of her, as though preparing for a fight.

"Ned was right, you should have called me straight away." Tony said, voice dangerously even.

There was a muffled retort at the other end, Pepper could hear the boys voice rise an octave as he defended himself, and despite the situation, found herself holding back a chuckle.

Tony glared at her, she just shook head, allowing her smile to creep in.

"Where's your Aunt?"

Another muffled response, a response that apparently did not sit well with Tony.

"No, you're staying with Pepper and I tonight. I'll send Happy 'round to pick you up."

She could almost hear Peter's response.

"No, kid. You're staying with us and that's final. I'll call your Aunt and let her know. I'll see you in a bit."

He pressed the end call button, effectively shutting down any counter arguments from Peter.

His jaw set, he shoved the phone into his pocket.

"Why do I even carry this thing with me?" He asked her, allowing his frustration at the situation carry through.

She just raised an eyebrow, he knew exactly why. If he was on a call, Friday would re-direct other calls to his physical phone to be picked up by voice mail.

"Friday, prioritise calls from Peter Parker, push them through."

"Yes, boss, will do." Came the AI's response.

He ran a hand through his hair, dishevelling his tidy cut that had been brushed for an earlier meeting.

She stepped out of the doorway to grab his hand and pull him closer to her. Looking up into his eyes for a moment.

"What?" He asked quietly.

"You don't think you were a little hard on him?" She asked gently.

He huffed.

'Kid had it coming."

She raised an eyebrow, and seeing this, Tony threw up his hands.

"Okay, I'll go easier on him when he gets here."

She grabbed both of his hands in hers and brought them closer together.

"I know you're worried about him and this Dev Marton situation. But you can't freak out every time something happens."

"I don't freak out."

Another eyebrow raised.

"Okay maybe sometimes I freak out. But Pepper," he said, voice becoming slightly desperate. "I can't lose him."

She felt a shaking sadness stir in her chest.

"Not again." He whispered.

She cupped his face with one hand.

"You won't." She assured him.

He leaned his head against hers for a moment, savouring her presence. She heard her phone ring behind her, breaking the moment.

He cleared his throat and stepped back, allowing her to walk back to her desk. Following her slightly into the room.

"You go to the apartment and make sure we've got food for Peter. I'll call his Aunt and sort it out." She called to him as she walked to her desk.

He just looked at her for a moment, and she saw, as she had many times in the last year, just how tired he looked. Grey hairs streaked through the brown, worry lines decorated the corners of his eyes. He reminded her a little bit of a lost boy, and it broke her heart.

"He'll be okay." She assured him.

He just nodded, a hand running through his hair as he turned and walked slowly out of her office.

A glass shattered somewhere in the apartment, she looked up, heart pounding. Her father was home. She looked up from her book and stared at her door. She heard the sounds of a woman crying. They were fighting again.

Despite the agreement to divorce, MJ's parent had decided to remain living together until everything was completed. They did this in a vain attempt to ease her into the new lifestyle.

The shouting grew louder, she found it unbearable. And so, taking action, she jumped off of her bed and stuffed her book in her back pack. She opened for door as quietly as she could, careful to ensure neither of them heard her. Then, silently, made her way down the stairs. She made it to the front door before her father noticed.

"And where do you think you're going young lady?" He yelled over at her, his face red with anger.

She swallowed back the fear in her throat.

"Out." She said, then promptly opened the door and left the house, walking as quickly as she could away from the house, glancing back once or twice to make sure she was not being followed by either parent.

She decided she would just walk, she would walk to clear her head. She didn't know how long she walked for, but it was beginning to get dark when she noticed how hungry she was. Seeing a nearby diner, she ducked in and sat at the table, ordered food for herself, then opened up her book to read.

Time flew by and she didn't realise how late it was until the hostess tapped her on the shoulder, holding the cheque in her hand.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but we're closing up." The hostess said, a looking a little worried.

"Oh, okay." She said, rummaging through her bag for her wallet. It pulling it out, she gave the hostess her card.

The hostess didn't leave, instead her eyes travelled to a rather rowdy group of men who had decided to gather across the street.

"Sweetie. Is someone coming to pick you up?

MJ looked surprised, she hadn't thought about that.

"No, I walked here from home."

The hostess just nodded, biting her cheek slightly.

"Is there someone you can call? It is late on a Friday night. Not super safe to walk home alone at this time."

"Um. I'll see." She answered.

The hostess nodded and walked away with the cheque.

MJ pulled out her phone. She wasn't sure who to call, but she was not dumb enough to walk home alone. She knew she couldn't call her parents. Her Mother would fret, and her Father would yell, and then blame her Mother. She briefly considered Ned, before realising he would have to wake his Mother up. She looked at Peter's name, but he was home alone since his aunt was at work. She had no options.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the sticky note in her bag. She hesitated before picking it up and resolutely dialling the number.

It rung a few times before a slightly sleepy voice answered.

"Hello?"

She recognised Miss Watson's accent and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Miss Watson. It's MJ. You gave me your number for emergencies."

She heard a movement on the other end, like someone sitting up quickly.

"MJ, of course! Are you okay?"

MJ looked out the window as the hostess placed her cad back on the table.

"Um, I know it's late. But do you think you could pick me up?" She asked, hating how little she sounded.

"Of course, where are you?"

She gave the address.

"Okay, that's about fifteen minutes from here. Are you safe where you are? Can you wait there?"

MJ looked at the hostess.

"Can I wait here till I get picked up?"

The hostess smiled

"Of course sweetie. We're going to pack down, but I've locked the door, just yell out when you're ready to leave."

"Yes, I can. I'm inside the diner."

"Okay, keep your phone on you, I'll call back when I'm out the front."

"Thank you." She whispered.

It was late, but Dev Marton sat in his office staring up at Stark Tower, a small sardonic smile on his face as he fantasied the end result of his scheme to take down Stark. A knock at the door startled him.

"Mr. Marton?" Came a female voice.

"Yes. Come" He answered roughly.

A short, small woman entered the room and came to stand in front of his desk. She stood as a soldier at ease. He turned his chair and pulled himself from the window to speak with her.

"How did you go."

She only smiled, which somehow made her cold, hard features harder to look at. She revealed the file she had stashed her jacket.

"You're going to die when you read this."

He took the file, a grin coming across his face, this sounded promising.

"You've never let me down before Janice."

He gestured for her to sit as he opened the file. He began to read, he felt his eyes widen as he did, realising that Stark had basically dug his own grave.

"He's just a kid." He mumbled to himself, some small doubt entering his mind in regards to his plan.

"You say that," Janice began, "but he's a kid who can catch a car with ease."

He looked at her, knowing she was eager for action.

"Patience Janice, your time will come." He reminded her, before explaining the reason for the file, "If the world were to find out that Tony Stark, the beloved Iron Man, coerced a minor into leaving the country to fight his battles for him, well, it would be the end of him."

He let out a chuckle, he finally had his coming. He could feel the victory on its way.

"What happens if he doesn't respond?" Janice asked. She was strong, but she was not smart.

"Then we move onto plan B Janice! There's always a backup."

He looked down at the picture of Peter Parker in the file. The name was familiar, and so was the picture.

"I know this kid." He mumbled to himself.

"Where would you know him from boss?"

He looked up, just past Janice as though trying to see where he knew the kid from. Nothing came to him.

"Maybe it's just a common face." He concluded, but the nagging feeling told him that this was not it.

"Send out a message. We activate the plan nine a.m tomorrow. We want to catch him off guard."


	8. Chapter 8

Peter lay in his bed at Mr. Starks apartment. It was early Saturday morning, and all he wanted to do was fall back asleep until midday. Him and Mr. Stark had stayed up late into the night discussing what to do if Dev Marton truly did know Peter's secret. Pepper had joined them, offering her advice and shutting down some of Mr. Starks more eccentric ideas. Peter remembered he had felt thankful for her calming presence.

Closing his eyes, he willed sleep to come back, but found himself somehow more awake. Deciding to just roll with it, he jumped up and threw on some clothes he had thrown in his bag before coming over. He had clothes here that stayed at the apartment, Mr. Stark had purchased them after his first night. But he always felt that they were too nice to wear. Walking quickly out of his room and into the hall way, he looked down toward Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts' room was. Their door was still closed, indicating that they were still asleep.

"Hey, Friday?" Peter called quietly.

"Good morning Peter. How did you sleep?" She greeted him quietly.

"Yeah good I guess. Are Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts still asleep?"

"Yes. Would you like me to wake them?"

Peter shook his head, slightly panicked.

"No, no, no. It's all good. I just wanted to check." He replied as quickly as he could.

After heading back into his room to grab a towel, Peter made his towards the private gym, eager to get rid of this restless energy. Walking in, he threw his towel over the edge of the treadmill before he begun to jog. After a little while, he looked down at the time, eight o'clock. He'd been going for just over an hour and had only just begun to sweat.

"Hey Friday, are they up yet?" He asked, slightly breathless.

"Yes, Peter. Ms. Potts in in the kitchen preparing breakfast. But it appears Mr. Stark has not yet gotten up."

"Oh, okay. Cool. Can you tell Ms. Potts that I'll join her in a bit once I have a shower?"

"Of course."

Walking out of the gym he made his was to his ensuite and quickly jumped in the shower. He still felt on edge, and so didn't linger. But quickly dried off afterwards and threw on and old t-shirt and jeans.

"Good morning Peter!" Ms. Potts called cheerily from the stove when he walked in.

He smiled at her, drawn closer by the smell of bacon. It was rare for Ms. Potts to cook; she was a busy woman. Usually Mr. Stark would cook for them or they would go out and eat together.

"Good morning." He said, returning her greeting. "What smells good?"

She grinned back at him.

"A little hungry, are we?" She teased. He realised that for the first time, he wasn't feeling awkward around her.

"Bacon and eggs. Friday told me you were up so I'm making you some as well."

"Thanks Ms. Potts. I really appreciate that."

"It's not a problem Pete." She affirmed with a smile.

"So, do you have any plans for today Ms. Potts?" He asked, a small part of him hoping she would be with him and Mr. Stark. She was good at keeping him calm.

"Well, I might go for a run this afternoon, but other than that, I thought maybe I'd see if you and Tony need any more help. If that's okay with you?" She offered.

He nodded quickly, eager for her to contribute to their precautions.

"That would be great, Ms. Potts."

It was a little before nine when Friday interrupted them.

"Ms. Potts, you have visitors."

Ms. Potts looked slightly confused, she shared a look with Peter.

"Where's Tony?" She asked.

"Mr. Stark appears to be in a light sleep."

"Who are our guests."

"Dev Marton and an un known friend."

Silence fell heavily, and Peter felt panic rise in his chest.

"Tony!" Ms. Potts called out.

"Friday, where are they."

"They are currently still in reception. Although their movements indicate they are quite agitated and will push past if necessary."

Peter felt cold.

"Tony!" Ms. Potts called again, walking to the kitchen doorway to look down the long hallway, but obviously not wanting to leave Peter alone.

"Friday, wake up Tony. Tell him what's happening"

"Will do."

She walked back from the doorway and walked around to face Peter, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay." She assured him.

A moment later, Mr. Stark all but stumbled into the room, track pants on and still shoving a shirt over his head. His hair pointing in every different direction. It would have been amusing if it had happened only the day before. He rushed to where Peter sat at the kitchen bench.

"You alright buddy?" He asked, voice still rough from sleep.

Peter just nodded. But then, his senses picked up, he looked up sharply, even Mr. Stark had seen the physical change.

"You sense him?"

"Yeah, he's getting closer." He said, part of him wanting to hide away.

Ms. Pott's and Mr. Stark stood either side of him, both with a hand on each shoulder, protective, comforting.

"Friday, update." Ms. Potts called.

"They've talked their way in, by body language I'd say through threats. I'll block them in the lift."

Mr. Stark pulled out his phone.

"Give me a live feed Friday."

The image popped up on his phone, Dev Marton and a small, muscular woman stood waiting for the lift to open.

"Audio, Friday."

They watched them enter the left. Upon seeing Dev Marton's face, Peter felt himself recoil, unconsciously leaning into Mr. Stark, who upon noticing this, exchanged a worried look with Ms. Potts.

They heard Fridays voice through the phone.

_"__Good Morning. Which floor can I take you to?"_ She asked.

"Don't let them up Fri." Mr. Stark muttered.

_"__Starks apartment."_ Dev Marton responded.

_"__I'm afraid Mr. Stark is not expecting guests at the moment."_ Friday replied smoothly.

_"__Hmm, sounds about right."_ Dev Marton muttered to the woman next to him.

Dev Marton was silent for a moment, an eerie smile forming on his face.

_"__Tell Mr. Stark that this is in regards to a phone call we had earlier this week." _

Peter felt Mr. Starks hand slide over to his other shoulder, extending his protectiveness over Peter.

"Put me through Friday, audio only."

"When you're ready, boss."

Mr. Stark squeezed his shoulder slightly before speaking.

"Marton. What do you want?" He basically snarled, enjoying the sight of his foe's face upon hearing his voice.

To his credit, Dev Marton recovered quickly.

"Stark. Good morning to you too." He greeted with all the arrogance of a man whose plan has already come to pass.

"Cut the crap Marton, what are you doing here?" Mr. Stark demanded.

"I wanted to speak with you about our phone call."

"You brought your body guard with you for that?" Mr. Stark asked doubtfully.

"Oh no, she's only here in case Spiderman decides to show up." He shot back. "I've seen what he can do. I don't need that."

Peter felt dizzy, he glanced up at Ms. Potts who ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm him.

"Spiderman is not here. And he is, as I told you, none of your business. Now, if you have anything further to say, I can call you during business hou- " Mr. Starks voice trailed off, seeing a file Dev Marton pulled out.

"Friday, zoom in." He whispered.

Dev Marton smiled, victorious.

"Ah, good to know you have a visual on us." He grinned.

Peter looked on, feeling the blood drain from his face as Friday zoomed in on the file.

_Peter Parker._

The sight of his name had him heaving for air.

Dev Marton casually opened the file and began to read.

"Peter Parker, AKA, Spiderman"

Peter looked up desperately at Mr. Stark.

"Mr. Stark. Please!" He begged in a whisper.

"Want me to go on?" Marton asked.

Mr. Stark stood, jaw set, eyes hard. He looked over at Peter and Pepper, and then let his head fall.

"Friday, let them up." He whispered.

Dev Marton's face broke out into a victorious smile.

The lift opened revealing a spacious, light living room. A large, leather sofa in the middle and a doorway that led towards a large kitchen. In the entry way of this living room, stood a very tired looking and pissed off Tony Stark. Exactly how Dev Marton had hoped to find him. He took in the man before him. While he was not a tall man, Stark certain carried an air of authority with him, making him seem twice his actual size. But right now, Dev held that man's future in his hands, making him seem exactly his actual size, half an inch shorter than himself.

He walked out of the lift, an easy grin on his face, his suit flawless, hair immaculate, the folder in his hands.

"Good morning Stark. You look refreshed." He greeted him.

Stark continued to glare at him, his jaw moving slightly, the Nano housing on his chest glowing over a shirt that the man had clearly not washed in some time.

Dev Marton heard a noise and looked in the direction of the kitchen. He could see Pepper Potts in there, clearly standing in front of another person.

"Good morning Pepper!" He called out.

Pepper just glared at him, her hands fisted by her side.

He looked slightly past her, deciding to ignore the person behind her.

He looked back as Stark.

"What do you want, Marton?" Stark snapped at him.

"Well, I just did some digging on your friend. I wanted to share my results with you." He replied smoothly. Handing his file over to Stark.

Stark stared at him, before grabbing the file out of his hand and looking down to read it.

He snapped the file shut. Staring at the ground before him. He finally raised his head to look him in the eye.

"What do you want?" He asked, voice barley above a whisper.

Dev chuckled to himself.

"I want you to retire, Mr. Stark."

Stark looked confused, his eyebrow raising slightly.

"You… what?" He looked over his shoulder to Pepper, who had moved to reveal a young boy sitting behind her, his eyes wide.

Stark looked back at him, a sceptical and agitated look on his face.

"That's it." Dev said, curious to get a closer look at the boy who, from his distance, was still slightly obscured, began to casually walk towards to kitchen as if he owned the place.

Stark stepped in front of him, not moving an inch back, so that they stood only a short space apart. Stark held his gaze.

"Your issue isn't with them." Stark said, his voice low, he leant in closer, face looking up, inches away from Dev's, "You come to my house, uninvited, to threaten me will _this_." He spat holding up the file. "Only to ask me to retire?"

Dev smiled, leaning down, he pushed Stark back, roughly, and took a step forward.

He looked over at the kitchen, finally seeing the boy's face. Broke into a laugh.

"If it isn't the man himself!" He cried. "Good of you to join us, Spiderman."

He looked back at Stark, a pitiful man really.

"I'm not sure how well the rest of the world would take to the news that the great Spiderman is a sixteen year-old-kid from Queens!" He announced, loud enough for Ms. Potts and Parker to hear.

Stark clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

"How would the world feel, Peter, if they knew that your, well, whatever he is to you, dragged a fourteen-year-old-kid into a punch up, in another country, without his guardian's consent?"

He chuckled as he saw the boy sway slightly, and watched Pepper put her hand on his shoulder.

He turned back to Stark, who looked ready for a fight. He put up his hands.

"Hey, I'm not a physical man. I'll tell you what. I'll give you the day. You make a decision by five p.m. You retire, from Stark Industries, from Iron Man, everything, just go back to being a lazy ass playboy, and I'll back off. I'll forget I ever knew anything. You stay, and I'll release this to the press. You keep going after that, and I'll make your life living hell."

With that he turned and re-entered the lift.

"Choose wisely, Stark." He said with a grin and the lift closed.


	9. Chapter 9

MJ woke up on an unfamiliar couch, a light blanket over her. She looked around the small, but homey living room, taking a moment to remember how she had gotten there. She recalled calling Miss Watson last night and being picked up from the diner. After that, Miss Watson had driven her to her house, it had been well after one-thirty in the morning, but even then, the sound of screaming came from her house as her parents had obviously picked another fight with each other. Miss Watson had asked if she was safe there and, when MJ had not responded, offered her a place to sleep on her couch with the promise to call her parents and inform them of her whereabouts in the morning.

She sat up in her teacher's house, it a quaint apartment with light streaming in from the sunshine outside. She looked at the time on her watch, nine-thirty. Standing up, she pushed off the blanket and realised she was still in her clothes from the day before. She folded the blanket and placed it at the end of the couch.

"Good morning, MJ" Her teacher greeted her warmly from the hall that led to the bedrooms and bathroom.

"Morning." MJ returned with a stiff smile, standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Miss Watson offered.

She nodded, and walked over to join where Miss Watson had arrived, the small table in the kitchen. Miss Watson pulled out a frying pan and began to work on frying some eggs and toasting bread for them.

"Anything I can help with?" MJ asked, not wanting to be useless.

"Uh, sure, sweetie! Can you get out some juice from the fridge, and maybe set the table? I can let you know where everything is as you go."

MJ complied with this, following Miss Watsons directions as she set the table for them to enjoy their breakfast together.

As they ate, MJ began to feel at ease around her teacher. Miss Watson seemed to realise that she was on edge, and made an effort to help MJ feel at home.

"So," Miss Watson asked after they had finished eating and chatting, "Do you want to tell me about your parents?"

MJ sighed and played with the cup on the table.

"It's a long story," she said, forcing a strong smile, "But, sometimes, when Dad fights with her, he throws things."

Miss Watson raised an eyebrow, a soft gesture to encourage her to continue.

"He's not my dad." She continued. "My Dad died during the attack on New York."

Miss Watson placed a comforting hand on hers.

"Mum doesn't have a job. She never has! She's got no training in anything, and so she finds it hard to find people who take her seriously enough to work. And so, she re-married a friend of hers who offered to support her and adopt me."

"It started out well, but then, overtime, it became obvious why that had never been romantically interested in each other. And so, he became more and more distant until a few months ago, when he started drinking again."

Miss Watson let out a breath, blinking back the tears in her eyes. She nodded slightly to let MJ know she had heard her story.

"MJ, I'm gonna call your Mum. Just to let her know your safe. Can you give me her number?"

Another half an hour flew by, and despite the situation, MJ found herself enjoying Miss Watson's presence. Miss Watson had called her Mother to assure her of MJ's safety, and had even offered to allow MJ to stay the weekend until her parents could resolve their argument, something that her Mother had very surprisingly agreed to. And so, Miss Watson arranged for a friend to go around and pick an overnight back for MJ that her mother would prepare.

It was just after eleven when the front door knocked, MJ looked up from where she sat at the kitchen table, doing her homework. Miss Watson smiled gently and walked to answer the door. MJ turned to watch her, a little surprised when the door opened, revealing Dev Marton.

"Hey babe. Got the bag. How's the kid?" He asked in such a way that it was apparent he wasn't really that invested, but rather, distracted, his hand patting his pocket to ensure he had his phone there.

Miss Watson smiled and thanked him, giving him a small kiss for his efforts.

"MJ, this is Dev, my boyfriend. Dev, this is MJ, she's staying with me for the weekend."

MJ just waved from the table, but continued to observe them as they interacted together.

"Thank you for getting this, I know your busy this weekend, but I just didn't want to leave her here alone." Miss Watson said quietly to Dev.

He gave her a small half smile.

"It's okay, I got this morning's meeting wrapped up quickly. Just waiting on them to call me back."

He looked past Miss Watson and smiled at MJ.

"What you working on?" He asked, making his way over to where she sat. Miss Watson picked up MJ's bag and placed it on the other side of the living room, and went back to the couch to read her book.

MJ watched him for a moment. The man was charismatic, she knew others would love him immediately, but she had a sense about him. He reminded her of her step-father. But she played it cool, keeping a straight face, she responded.

"Biology."

"Mind if I take a look?" He asked, sitting next to her. She handed her book over, and then, pulled out her phone to text Peter. He loved all that tech stuff, surely he would be excited to hear that she had met Dev Marton, despite her underlying distrust of him.

Tony stood in his living room, staring at the lift that had carried away Marton. Still taking heavy breaths, he looked into the kitchen and saw that Peter had curled up into Pepper's side, the latter stroking his head gently. He looked back down, anger rising in his chest for how helpless he had been with the man in his apartment. He took a deep, shaky breath, and walked to the kitchen, looking at Pepper as he came around to check on Peter.

Peter looked at him, his eyes big and watery. That was it, the last straw. He had let Peter down. He stepped back and swore loudly and repeatedly, swiping his hand across the bench, sending the plates that Peter and Pepper had used for breakfast, smashing to the ground. He walked away from them and stood at the other end of the long counter, and lent back against it, his head in one hand and the other crossed in front of him.

The world still needed Iron Man. There was no question about it. The world still needed Tony Stark, not as a useless playboy, but as a genius, as an inventor, as an influencing figure on politics. He looked over at Pepper, whose eyes had not left him once, her hand still carding through Pete's hair. He looked at the boy and felt his heart almost break in two. He knew what he was going to do, and he knew there was a chance that, once again, Iron Man would let Peter Parker down. He walked back over to Peter and Pepper and gently placed a hand on each of their shoulders, his thumb drawing circles on Peppers.

"Pep?"

She just shook her hand He let his hand fall away and began pacing the room.

"Pete, you okay?" He asked after a moment.

The boy just looked at him, tears falling onto his cheeks.

Tony swore once again under his breath.

"What do we do?" Came Peter's voice, unsure and small.

Tony stood still, a plan formulating in his mind.

"Mr. Stark?"

He looked at Peter and Pepper.

"We take him down." He proclaimed.


	10. Chapter 10

Peter jerked awake, feeling an ache in his neck from the odd angle he had been sleeping in. He looked over at Aunt May in the driver's seat. She looked tired, but her eyes remained steadily on the road before them.

"How much further?" He mumbled, still feeling rather sleepy.

She looked down at the satnav, it's low light just dimly illuminating the area around it slightly brighter than the freeway lights flashing past.

"About an hour."

Peter nodded and lent back in the seat again, his head resting against the window once again, watching the dark, outside world speed by.

May looked over at him for a moment, a small frown on her face.

"Peter. Don't be mad at Mr. Stark." She said softly, concern filling her voice.

Peter huffed slightly, adjusting himself to cross his arms and look out the front window. She took his lack of response as an opportunity to continue.

"He's just trying to protect you. We all are." She continued, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder, the other firmly on the wheel of the car.

Peter absentmindedly shrugged it off, his eyes rolling slightly.

"But I don't need protecting! I'm Spiderman! I'm stronger than him!" He turned to his aunt slightly, a small, desperate look on his face. "If anything, I should be protecting him." He said seriously.

May put her hand back on the wheel, she blinked slowly.

"Peter, this isn't about who is stronger. I know you are." She said, reassuringly, seeing Peter nod quickly, she continued, "But this isn't about that. He doesn't want your life to be ruined by some guy who thinks he can blackmail people into doing whatever he wants."

Peter looked away again, irritation rising in his chest.

"But that's not fair!" He cried.

"I know, Peter, but that's life! Life is unfair, and sometimes we just have to roll what we're given!"

"You sound like Mr. Stark." Peter replied, a snarky tone in his voice.

"And Mr. Stark is right!" She said, much the surprise of Peter. "Look, Peter, I get it. You want to be in there, you want to fight with Mr. Stark. But this isn't something that will be won through a fight! This is something that needs two grown men to sit down and work out their differences without dragging the nearest kid into the mix."

"But Mr. Stark said we would take him down!"

"Him and Pepper, Peter! Him and Pepper! This is why they're a good team, because not every fight involves punches or tying people up!"

May's jaw moved slightly, her grip on the wheel tightened.

"Look, I know you're mad because he told me what was going on. I know you're mad because he's removed you from the situation. But you've got to try and understand, Peter, he can't risk having you there!"

They sat in silence for a moment, their heated words still feeling heavy in the air.

"I can't risk it either. I won't lose you Peter." She said quietly after a moment.

Peter looked over at her, he could see her eyes shining in the darkened car. A small tremble on her lower lip.

"An – and Mr Stark, god." She continued, her voice beginning to shake slightly, "He's done so much for us, more than you would even know, Peter."

She looked over at him, one single tear escaping her eye and rolling down her cheek. Peter looked at her, eyes wide, and shame building in his chest. He couldn't look at her any more, he ducked his head and played with his hands.

"He loves you, you know." May continued, her voice just above a whisper.

"I know." He mumbled back, finding that his own eyes were becoming moist.

"It's – it's just that, you know, I – " He began, but then gave up with a sigh, letting his hands fall into his lap. "I don't know."

May looked over at him, her precious boy. He looked even younger and smaller sitting in the passenger seat with his watery eyes and messed up hair. She reached out a hand again to grab his and squeezed it reassuringly. Their eyes met for a second, just enough to give him the confidence to say what he wanted to say.

"We never talk about them."

She watched the road, something tight gripping around her heart, knowing exactly where this was going.

"A-after everything happened. After the funerals, you know. An- and I miss them, so much." He explained, his throat beginning to feel tight, and tears beginning to fall freely. "I know I was pretty young when it happened, but I still remember them!"

He heard a soft whimper from his Aunt, and let out a sob of his own, struggling to continue.

"I- I wish Dad had survived!" His voice grew slightly, anger from the injustice of it all seeping in and clouding his thoughts, "I wish Mum were here, and Uncle Ben!"

He looked over at her, squeezing the hand that still held his. Tears streaming down his face.

"I can't lose anybody else, May. Not you, not Mr. Stark." He whispered.

May nodded slightly, and pulling her hand out of Peter's, wiped away the tears falling to her cheeks. She took a shaky breath.

"I know, Peter." And then, after a moment. "I miss them too."

"Sometimes I feel guilty, you know?" He began again, risking a look over at her.

She gave him a quick look back, looking unsure as to where he was going with this thought.

"About Mr. Stark." He mumbled, ducking his head again.

She scrunched eyebrows together, still unsure.

"Why do you feel guilty?"

He let out a breath and let his head fall back on the seat behind him, feeling for the life of him that he was about to confess his greatest secret.

"Just that, you know." He began, uncertainty filling his voice, "I didn't know Dad that well."

May looked back out at the darkened road, her heart squeezing a little and tears once again forming in her eyes. She now understood exactly what he was going to say.

"It's okay Peter." She assured him.

"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if he was my dad." He confessed, tears once again beginning to fall.

She knew they would be beyond exhausted at the end of this drive, not just from the trip, but from this emotionally heavy conversation.

"It's okay, Peter." She repeated back to him.

She could hear his gentle sobbing next to her and squeezed his hand once again.

"Don't feel guilty. You were so young when it happened. And every boy needs a father figure. You wouldn't be betraying anyone if you kept seeing him in that way." She said as gently as she could.

He looked at her with big, wet eyes.

"Thanks May." He whispered.

R

"Thanks for giving me a ride, Miss Watson." MJ said, stepping out of the teacher's car, and ignoring a few strange looks from other students.

Miss Watson sent her a warm smile, it seemed to lighten the otherwise overcast day.

"It's not a problem MJ. Just remember to meet me at the teachers' lounge after school and I'll take you home."

MJ nodded her understanding as she lifted her backpack onto her left shoulder, leaving the other strap hanging. She stood there for a moment, not entirely sure what to say, before just deciding to wing it.

"Okay. See you after class." She said, and then gave Miss Watson a little wave as she walked into the school

"Have a good day." Miss Watson said, watching the girl walk away, and then turned back to the car to lift out a box from the back seat.

MJ walked up the steps, ignoring the students around her, she was on a mission. She needed to speak with Peter, he had not answered her text message, which was incredibly unlike him, and she wanted to confront him about it. She walked down the corridor toward his locker, and, to her surprise, saw Ned standing there, looking around anxiously as though he too was looking for Peter.

She walked over and lent on the locker in next to Peter's.

"Hey Ned." She greeted him.

Ned jumped, in his panic of trying to see if Peter was coming, he had not even noticed MJ walk up right in front of him. He placed a hand over is pounding heart.

"MJ! What the hell. Don't scare me like that!" He scolded her, his eyes only meeting hers for a second before they once again took off, scanning the room for signs of Peter.

MJ scrunched her brow slightly, observing Ned's odd behaviour.

"You seen Peter?"

"No. I've been texting him all weekend but he hasn't replied! I'm worried!" Ned rambled.

MJ raised an eyebrow, a horrible feeling washing over her. What if something had happened to Peter? She pushed herself off of the locker.

"He didn't reply to you either?" She asked.

He shook his head. The bell for class rung, Ned looked around the room frantically.

"What do we do?" He asked, barley above a whisper.

She shrugged, struggling to appear indifferent.

"Donno man." She pated his shoulder and brushed past him to get to her first class.

Arriving just in time for class, she purposefully selected a seat at the back of the room and pulled out her phone, unlocking it, she opened her messenger app and wrote a quick text.

_"__Peter. You okay?"_

She pressed send, and then, as an afterthought, added;

_"__Cause Ned's really annoying when you're not here."_

Locking her phone once again, she slipped it into her pocket, hoping that none of the teachers would spot it throughout the day. She had no intention of letting it outside of her grasp.

He was probably just sick or something, or broke his phone. She was over reacting. But she couldn't shake the anxious feeling that loomed over her for the rest of the day.

R

Tony stood before the mirror in the bedroom that he shared with Pepper as he tied his tie and pushed on a vest over his silk shirt. Getting it straight, he looked up and caught his face in the reflection. He looked terrible. He hadn't been sleeping well prior to Marton's threats, now he had altogether stopped, and it easily showed. Despite his crisp suit and carefully styled hair, he looked like a zombie. His face looked worn, with dark, puffy bags under his slightly reddened eyes. This wouldn't do. He had a meeting with Marton today and he needed to appear unaffected, he needed to recover from Marton's earlier ambush. He needed to walk into that office strong, certain, and with a signature air of arrogance.

"Tony." Pepper called from the bedroom door. She was also dressed for business and looked fiercely ready for battle, however, Tony couldn't help but notice the bags under her own eyes.

She walked into the room, picking up his suit jacket from the bed and coming up behind him to help him in.

"Did you sleep last night?" She asked as she brushed off some imaginary lint from the shoulders.

He didn't respond, just looked away from his reflection and stared idly into thin air for a moment.

"Tony?" She asked, some concern sneaking into her voice.

He sighed and turned to face her. She looked up at him for a few moments, taking in his tired appearance, and, knowing how his heart currently ached, pulled him into a comforting hug. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, closing his eyes tightly.

"It's not your fault." She whispered.

He tightened his grip on her, desperately fighting back the tears that came to him. She ran a hand through his hair.

"It's not your fault." She assured him once again.

He let out a sob, and stood there, in her arms, letting out all the pent-up guilt and frustration from the last few days. The weight of his failures too great for him to bear. As he let out his tears, she simply held him and whispered re-assuring words until she felt him starting to calm down and take deep breaths. She pulled back to look at him, and wiped away the tears on his cheeks.

"We're going to fix this." She said.

He looked at her, desperation filling him. He nodded.

"Let's take this son of a bitch down." He finally said.


	11. Chapter 11

"Ah, good morning Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark" Dev Marton called out to them as they walked into his office. Tony took the man in, he has a tall man with broad shoulder, but he had the face of a man who would run from a fight. "You know, I was a little surprised when you replied before our deadline to arrange a meeting. And, I'll admit, I was tempted to just say no." Dev Marton continued with a small chuckle.

Tony stopped before the man, separated only by the desk and two chairs that had been placed for them to sit in. He stood rigid, his jaw set and eyes hard. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet, and instead stared at him, knowing that Pepper could carry this until he was in control of himself.

"Thank you for taking the time to see us, Mr. Marton" Pepper offered, her tone completely professional.

"Have a seat." Marton commanded, rather than suggested, as he gestured to the seats before them.

Pepper gracefully pulled hers out and sat down. Tony stared down his enemy a moment longer before slowly pulling out his chair and taking a seat.

"Mr. Marton." Pepper began, "Thank you for allowing us the extra time to come to a decision, as you are aware, we did have a family friend staying with us when you stopped by, and so that delayed our ability to properly analyse the situation."

Marton stammered for a bit, holding back an obnoxious laugh.

"Family friend?" He enquired, "You mean you had Spiderman sitting at your kitchen bench."

Pepper remained cool, her tone even.

"The identity of our personal friends is of no concern to you, Mr. Marton."

Marton lent forward on his forearms, hand folded together.

"Well," He said, a sinister edge taking his voice, "Now that your…friend… is gone. Have you come to a decision?"

"We have." Pepper said.

"And?" Marton asked, an edge to his voice.

Tony lent forward, a small signal to Pepper that he was ready to speak. He saw her shuffle back slightly in her chair, allowing him to take the lead.

"You take me down, and I'll drag you down with me." Tony said, struggling to keep with tone even. He grit his teeth and glared at the man as he waited for his response.

Marton stared at him for a moment, and the let out a loud laugh.

"Take me down with you?" He wheezed through his laughter.

Tony looked over at Pepper as the two shared an uncertain look.

Marton took a moment to compose himself, letting out a small sigh.

Tony gave him a confused, and mildly concerned look.

"You can't take me down, Stark." He spat.

"You sure about that? Because this rented office and that cheap ass suit say's otherwise." Tony spat back. He felt Pepper tap his ankle lightly under the table. He looked over at her for just a second and then relaunched at Marton. "You blackmail me and I'll expose you for every single thing you've ever done in your life." He said, his voice becoming dangerously low.

"What Mr. Stark is trying to say," Pepper said, interceding on his behalf, "Is that if you attempt to force him into retirement through means of blackmail, we will go to the authorities and have charges placed against you. And I can assure you, Mr. Marton, that the investigation will be very thorough."

Marton drew his eyebrows together. He had to admit that this was not exactly what he had expected. He had expected grovelling, he had expected surrender, hell, he had even expected Tony to smash through a window in the Iron Man suit. But instead, they seemed to insist on making things more difficult. He let out a sigh, he knew there would be a lot of late nights ahead of him if this plan did not work out.

"You know, Tony," he began, his tone cool, even, threatening, "Even if you went to the authorities, sometimes these things, you know, evidence and such, have a way of slipping into the hands of the media. It would be a shame if that's how the world found out that you recruited a child soldier."

Tony's head snapped up at this, his eye's narrowed. He desperately wanted to summon the suit from the nano housing unit hidden on his chest and punch this guy into the ground.

Pepper stepped in.

"Mr. Stark is not in the business of recruiting children to fight."

Tony felt a wave of guilt washing over him as she spoke, or more so, lied through her teeth. He had known how old Peter was when he recruited him, but he'd been so caught in the moment he had not considered the consequences of Peter's identity being discovered.

Pepper continued.

"If you will remember, Mr. Marton, in 2008 Mr. Stark ceased all weapons deals from Stark Industries to focus on domestic technology growth, and, of course, through the Iron Man suit, the protection of the citizens of the U.S and even against aliens a few years ago. And even after Captain America left the Avengers, Spiderman was recruited with the full knowledge of general Ross. So, nothing that you release to the public will not result in any legal issues for Mr. Stark. They will, however, for you." She said.

Marton looked at her, his face looking quizzical.

"How so?"

"The only way to have procured any information regarding Spiderman would be through a massive invasion of privacy." She stated.

Tony looked away as she said this, not able to hide his guilt. He slouched slightly in the chair and crossed his arms, hoping that he would not be asked how he had figured it out.

"There was no invasion of privacy." Marton replied calmly, softly even. "I was presented a file from an outside source."

"Yes, but you chose to use that outside information to blackmail Mr. Stark. That is a federal offence. We have security footage and audio files of you coming to our house and threatening us."

"It wasn't blackmail so much as it was a presentation of two different options for Tony's future." Marton quipped back.

"You think that's how the police would see it?" Pepper countered.

Marton let a small smirk creep onto his face as he leaned in closer to Pepper and said in low voice.

"Oh, Ms. Potts. I am not the one who should be worried about the police."

Tony felt a chill run up his spine. He had a bad feeling about this and was beginning to realise that they had walked directly into a trap. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out to see a message from happy.

_"__Paparazzi pulling up out front. Seem aggressive. Come down now."_

"I see you've alerted the media to our presence here." He said, putting his phone back into his pocket and fixing the man with a hard glare.

Pepper gave a worried look to Tony, Marton merely shrugged.

"The people love Iron Man. I've just given them what they want."

"What do you mean by that?" Tony demanded.

Marton ignored the question, and adjusting his suit as he stood, clearly drawing a close on their meeting, he gestured his hand and an assistant walked in.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. My assistant will show you out."

Tony stared at his suspiciously for a second, before placing a protective hand on the small of Pepper's back and following the assistant out of the office.

"Friday, tell happy we're coming." He muttered quietly, only his ear piece and Pepper hearing.

"Will do." Came her quick response.

He walked slightly behind Pepper, feeling the weight of the nano housing on his chest, heavier than it actually was, he fidgeted, desperately wanting to suit up and protect the woman he loved from an attack he could just feel coming.

His hand pressed slightly harder into her back, a silent signal for her to be ready for anything, before he slid up and placed his right hand on her right shoulder as they continued to follow the assistant down the hallway to the lifts. He narrowed his eyes, he did not trust the situation, he'd seen black widow in action enough times to know that size didn't matter when it came to fighting. He squeezed his hand on Peppers shoulder again as the lift opened and they stepped in. The assistant did not join them.

"Ground floor." Was all she said before she curtly walked off.

They looked around them, there was no response from an AI.

"Guess we have to do all the work." He said with some contempt as he pushed the button for the ground floor.

The lift doors began to close, revealing a scratched and slightly old wooden inside. Suddenly, a foot jammed itself in the door, forcing the doors to open once again, revealing a small, muscular woman on the other side.

He felt pepper stiffen beside him, and he instinctively pushed her back behind him and the woman gave them a smile and stepped onto the lift. The very same woman who had accompanied Marton to their home.

They stood behind her, as she blocked their exit from the lift. The doors closed and, very slowly, the lift began to descend.

Pepper grabbed his arm.

"Ms. Potts. Mr. Stark. A pleasure to see you both again." She said to them without turning to them.

Neither Tony or Pepper responded. Tony stood, his legs burning, ready for a fight. Pepper behind him, desperate to get off of the lift. He shook his arm, signalling for Pepper to let go, and tapped the Nano housing on his chest. The suit began to silently cover him.

"Rather unfortunate that your meeting with Mr. Marton did not go well. I was hoping not to exert energy today she said."

Suddenly she spun around, her fist flying with a force that would have rivalled that of Captain America. Tony caught her fist, feeling pain shoot up his arm from the impact despite the armour he wore.

"Already suited up I see." She said with a grin.

She spun and threw her leg up, catching him behind the neck and pulling him down. He reacted immediately, thrusters catching his fall. He pushed her back against the wall.

"I won't fight you." He spat.

He saw Pepper cowering in the corner.

"Tony!"

Too late, the woman punched his helmet with all her force.

"Stop it, stop it!" Pepper cried.

"That's it." Tony said. "You've upset Pepper."

And with that, he caught the woman by the throat just as the doors opened and threw her out of the lift in the building entry way. She lay there on the cold floor, not moving.

His helmet melted back into the armour, heart pounding and ears ringing, hoping that despite her violence against him, she was alive. He walked over and stood over her.

She looked at him, her face twisted, tears streaming down. She raised a hand and pointed at him.

"You took my son!" She screamed.

"Tony!" Pepper cried behind him.

It was then that he noticed what had missed in his rush of adrenaline. Fifty reporters stood before him in the large entry, all speechless, all of them capturing every single moment of him throwing a small woman out of a lift, who had then accused him of taking her son.


	12. Chapter 12

Peter sat in the small living room of their safe house, the TV playing quietly in the background as his worked on some of the algebra questions from his text book. He had been unable to procure anything from his teachers, much less inform them of his absence prior to Mr. Stark pushing him and Aunt May in a car and sending them to an address he had already entered into the satnav. Right now, he could see Aunt May sitting on her bed through her open doorway, reading a book and leaning back up against the headboard. He sighed and put down his pen, running his hands over his face. He didn't even have his phone, he hadn't had the chance to tell MJ or Ned what had happened, they were probably worried. Bored of his algebra, he turned to the TV in time to see Mr. Stark's face on the TV.

His interest peaked, he turned up the volume, causing Aunt May to look up from her book for a moment.

_"…__Tony Stark is making headlines today for all the wrong reasons."_

"May!" He called, his heart beginning to pound in his chest.

May rushed out of her room and came to watch the television from the doorway.

_"__Tony Stark threw a woman out of a lift at Marton Tech Incorporated early yesterday morning dressed in the Iron Man armour. The woman claimed the Mr. Stark had taken her son from her. In later interview at the scene, she stated that she had not seen her son in some weeks after a field trip to Stark Industries."_

A tearful, small, strong woman filled the screen.

"That's the woman from the lift!" Peter cried as May came over to stand behind him.

_"__My son text me,"_ She said between sobs, _"Said he had met Tony Stark and that Tony wanted to spend time with him. He asked for my permission! I said yes, because, you know, he's Iron Man! And, and, I haven't seen him since!"_ She wept.

"The screen flickered back to the presenter in the studio.

_"__Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts, who was present during the attack has issued a statement saying: 'Over the course of the last twenty-four-hours, allegations have been made against Mr. Stark over his conduct with children who have visited Stark Industries, and against his outburst at Marton Tech Inc. We have first-hand knowledge that Mr. Stark does not interact with visiting students without the signed consent of parents and would never have spoken to the child in question without the written consent of the child's guardians. Furthermore, Mr. Stark was provoked at Marton Tech Inc., and acted purely in self-defence.'"_

Aunt May took the remote out of his hand and shut off the TV. Peter stared at the black screen, seeing his distorted reflection in it. He looked up at May.

"We have to go back." He said.

"No, Peter." She replied, shaking her head.

He jumped up from the floor and turned to face her.

"Why not? He's clearly in trouble!" He argued, gesturing towards the now blank television.

May came around the couch and laid a hand on his shoulder, gently looking him in the eye.

"This is exactly what he wanted to protect you from." She said calmly.

"But if I had been there-"

"It would have been worse!" She interrupted with a nervous laugh. "If you were there, Peter, it would have made their accusations one-hundred-percent plausible. Even if you went as Spiderman! At least this way he has a chance to prove that he didn't take that women's child."

"I know that woman though, May. She works with Dev Marton. She was there when he came to the apartment!"

"All the more reason to stay clear!" May explained, exasperated.

"But I can help!" Peter's voice rose slightly.

May gave him a hard look.

"Please." He begged. "Please May."

"What would you do if we were there?" She asked.

"I don't know!" He admitted. "I would think of something. Maybe get Dev Marton alone and-"

May cut him off again with an exasperated sigh and throwing her hands up.

"Peter. That's exactly how Tony and Pepper got into this situation. They obviously went to confront him and have come out looking like monsters! If he did that to them, imagine what he could do to you!"

"But I'm stronger."

"That's not the point, Peter!" She replied, her own voice raising.

"What is the point then, May? That I should let Mr. Stark get trampled all over by some moron who stumbled on something he could use?"

"No, Peter. That's not -" She answered quickly, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose slightly.

"Then what is?" He asked.

"The point is that you need to trust Mr. Stark. It might seem wild right now and scary. But, if his history is anything to go by, he should be fine. He'll let us know when and if he needs you."

"But what if he doesn't realise he needs me?" Peter implored, eyes wide.

"Oh, Pete." She sighed.

"I'm serious. What if he gets into a fight and he needs me?"

"Peter. Iron Man doesn't need you." She replied sternly.

Peter took a physical step back as her words hit him like a bag of bricks. His mouth open and shut as words refused to form. Iron Man didn't need him!

"Pete," she continued gently. "He's been in more fight's than anyone knows. He's probably the smartest person on earth, and he's got more money than he knows what to do with. And right now, he's facing something that isn't a physical fight, in fact a physical fight would make things a million times worse."

She placed a gentle hand on his arm, he looked down to the side, refusing to meet her eyes.

"What he needs is for you to keep your distance. Stay safe."

He looked up, his chin jutting slightly.

"So, he doesn't want me anymore?" He more stated than asked.

May's eyes popped slightly, and she seemed taken aback.

"Wha- no. Peter. You're not listening. I said he doesn't need you. I have no doubt in my mind that desperately wants to spend time with you and just hang out with you. But right now, that's not what is best for either of you." She explained quickly, fearing that Peter would walk off.

She rubbed her hand on his arm, comforting him.

"He loves you. In his own weird, eccentric and annoying way." She re-assured him quietly.

"Sometimes people, even the ones who love each other the most, don't always need that other person to be around. Because sometimes having that person around is the worst thing for them. And when you push your need for someone onto them, it becomes dangerous, it manipulates the other person in feeling like they have to be there. It tricks them into thinking that they are responsible for every single aspect of the other person's life. And right now, Mr. Stark isn't pushing neediness on you. He wants you in his life, I've never been more certain of anything, but right now, that's not what is best for him or for you." She explained. "So Peter, you need to decide if you'll give him that space, or if you'll push your needs onto him."

He didn't reply, so she pulled him into her arms and rubbed circles on his back. He stood motionless for a moment, before returning her hug, grateful for the mother-figure in his life.

R

"Psst. MJ" Ned whispered across the empty aisle to his friend who sat at the desk next to him.

"Class is over Ned; you don't need to whisper." She replied smartly, picking up her books and standing up.

"Oh, right." He said, cheeks warming slightly.

"What class you got next?" She asked as he also picked up his books and joined her as they left the room together.

"History, Miss Watson. Hey, have you heard anything from Peter yet? This Stark thing is worrying me." He rambled.

She simply shook her head. Everyone in the school was talking about it, how Mr. Stark had gone crazy and attacked that woman. She knew better though, so did Ned. Something strange was afoot. They walked down the hall towards Ned's class.

"Ned, I think Tony sent Peter away." MJ stated once they reached the door of the classroom.

Ned cast a sidelong glance inside, it appeared that they were the first there.

"Wh- why would he do that? He loves Peter!" He whispered back.

"Which is why he would have sent Peter away." She stated, making a face to say that this was an obvious point that he should have been able to pick up on earlier.

Ned made a face, obviously not quiet following her. He was smart, but seldom logical. She rolled her eyes.

"Something must have happened over the weekend that tipped off Mr. Stark that something was coming. And, that something must have something to do with Peter. You follow me?' She asked, angling her head somewhat toward him.

He shook his head.

"No. It kind of sounds like you're just making this up." He admitted.

She let out an annoyed huff.

"Ned. Look at the facts. You said that he freaked out when he met Dev Marton. I got a bad vibe off of him too. Then, after school, he went home, and you said that he had promised to tell Mr. Stark about what happened that day. So, what if he told Mr. Stark and Mr. Stark decided that the best course of action was to remove Peter from the situation entirely."

Ned raised an eyebrow.

"When did you meet Dev Marton?" He asked.

She drew her eyebrows together, annoyed that that was the point he had taken away from her speech.

"Ned, that's-"

"No, because if you met him before whenever Peter left, we might be able to figure out what happened." He said, cutting her off.

MJ's head bobbed back, surprised by Ned's train of thought. Perhaps he was a logical thinker after all!

"Saturday morning." She answered.

He gave her a look.

"I was staying with Miss. Watson over the weekend and he came over. Said he'd come from a meeting and was just waiting for them to call him back."

"Why were you –" He began, but stopped, cutting himself off.

Other students had begun to fill the room by then, and Miss Watson herself had appeared at her desk.

"Not the point. What if Dev Marton had something to do with this Tony Stark thing?" He whispered.

"You joining us, Ned?" Miss Watson called from her desk, not unkindly.

"One second!" He replied with a charming smile, this was met by a small frown the teachers part.

"We're jumping to conclusions." MJ stated. "What we need to do is figure out what actually happened between the woman and Tony Stark. But more than that. We need to find Peter."


	13. Chapter 13

She lived in the city of 'see something, say something." Well, if she was honest, she hadn't really heard anyone say it, but had just heard a joke about it on Brooklyn 99. But today, before class, she had heard something.

She had been hanging up posters on the wall, hidden from view when she had heard their whispers.

"…I think Tony sent Peter away." MJ had whispered.

She had frozen, unsure of what to do. She had often thought of Peter as a liar for saying he knew Tony Stark, but it was becoming apparent that Peter truly did know the man. It wasn't until flash walked in and gave her a casual greeting that she came out of her thoughts.

She stood up the front, moving robotically as she taught through the lesson, struggling not to stare at Ned or the empty seat next to him. What if it was true? What is Tony Stark had taken Peter away? What about that other kid then? They hadn't found any trace of him yet.

She moved through the day, still uncertain of what action to take. She didn't want to say anything because everyone seemed to be taking sides on the 'Stark-Marton war', as they had dubbed it. She briefly considered calling Dev, but quickly shook the idea out of her mind. Despite her growing affection for him, she knew that he would use this as ammunition against Stark, he was too emotionally connected to his feud to see reason. But still, she knew she should support him. She pulled out her phone during lunch and sent a quick message.

_"__Hey Babe. I know you're busy right now with the Stark mess. I totally understand if you can't make our date tonight. Happy to reschedule. Xx"_

A response came back quickly.

_"__No Babe. Will pick you up at 7."_

She smiled at her phone, she knew that he had his flaws. He could sometimes get suspicious when she didn't reply to his messages. Sometimes he would get annoyed for no reason. But, she reasoned with herself, this is a stressful time for him. Once all of this blows over, he will go back to normal.

Still, the thought weighed on her mind as she finished up her final class of the day, even as she drove home. She wished she had heard the rest of the conversation! She desperately wanted to help Peter get away from Stark.

She hopped into her shower as soon as she got home, hoping that the hot water would help her to relax and take her mind off of what she had heard. After she dried off, she walked down the hall to her small kitchen and looked at the time. Six o'clock. Dev would be here in an hour to pick her up, and he was always on time. She pulled a drink out of her fridge and began to make her way back to her room to get dressed when someone knocked on the door. She froze, uncertain of what to do. Answer to door in her dressing gown, or rush to put on some jeans. She decided to be safe and ran to her room. The door knocked again, sounding more urgent.

"Coming!" She shouted and she shoved on some under wear, a top and some running pants.

She sprinted back to the door just as the other person knocked once again. She opened it, panting slightly.

"What?" She answered, thoroughly annoyed.

She regretted her words instantly, because there before her stood the great Pepper Potts.

"Oh, uh. Hello." She said, craning her head to look past Ms. Potts, curious as to why she would be here. "Can I, uh, help you?"

Ms. Potts stared at her, an eyebrow raised slightly.

"We need to talk." She said, and pushed past Chloe, basically inviting herself in.

"Oh, okay. Cool." She said, then shut the door.

Looking over she saw that Ms. Potts had seated herself at the dining room table, and was clearly expecting her to join her.

She took a breath to calm herself and slowly walked over.

"Look, Ms. Potts. I'm a huge admirer of you, I look up to you." She admitted, "But, I – uh – have no idea what to say."

Ms. Potts just stared at her. Chloe walked over and sat across from her.

"Miss Watson. I need to speak with you regarding Mr. Marton."

Chloe felt, despite her admiration for Ms. Potts, a wave of irritation. The goal of this woman, to barge into her house and bring up something she had nothing to do with!

"What about him?" She asked, allowing frustration to come into her voice.

"I understand that you are in a relationship with Mr. Marton. Is that correct?" She asked.

Chloe leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms, before immediately sitting up straight, not wanting to appear weak in front of such a famously strong woman!

"That's none of your concern." She replied tersely.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ms. Potts responded.

Chloe spluttered.

"You're aware that Tony and Mr. Marton currently have some differences regarding an incident in Marton Tech's entry way?"

"Well, yes, bu-"

Ms. Pott's held up her hand, signalling for silence until she was finished speaking. Chloe could easily imagine this woman bossing Tony Stark around, and she could easily understand why, under her leadership, Stark Industries had gone from strength to strength. Ms. Potts' calm nature was a little un-nerving considering the circumstances.

She pulled out her phone, and selected something, then, slide it across the table. A hologram popped up. She looked over at Ms. Potts.

"Wha-"

"Just watch." Ms. Potts cut her off.

Chloe watched in some confusion as a man and a woman stood in a lift together. She looked closer, that man looked exactly like Dev!

"Is tha-"

Ms. Potts silenced her again with a single raised finger.

There was a woman next to him. She had never seen her before. The lift opened and the footage changed to show a large, luxurious living room, with a very ill looking Tony Stark in the centre.

Dev walked out of the lift, holding a file.

Chloe looked up, uncertainly at Ms. Potts, before continuing to watch. Dev was looking over Tony Starks shoulder into another room. The footage changed again. Chloe felt herself gasp, her hand covering her mouth.

"Peter!" She exclaimed quietly.

She watched on, hand still over her mouth as she saw, much to her horror, Dev push the smaller man back, apparently taunting him. The footage once again cut to Peter, showing the tears starting to fall on his face. She watched as Dev left, she watched as Tony Stark stood helpless in his own house. She watched as he shoved the plates off of the bench and then went to comfort his family.

The footage ended. She looked up at Ms. Potts. Absolutely horrified. She couldn't believe it.

"When?"

"Saturday morning. Right after nine a.m." Ms. Potts answered.

The image of Tony Stark standing there so helplessly stuck in her head.

"I had no idea." She whispered, her eyes starting to mist.

"We've removed Peter from New York until the situation is resolved. He is with his Aunt at a safe house.' Ms. Potts said. Her hard tone from earlier softening slightly.

She sat for a moment, taking deep breaths, pushing back strands of hair from her face.

Looking back up at Ms. Potts, she asked,

"What do I do?"

Ms. Potts leaned forward and placed a soft hand on her arm. Chloe saw that famous engagement shining on her finger as her hand settled.

"We have good reason to believe that Mr. Marton is a dangerous man. That woman in the lift with him at my home was the same woman who claimed her child has taken by Tony. On Monday, that woman attacked Tony in the lift after we had a meeting with Dev Marton."

She explained gently. "We thought that you would realise his true nature sooner or later, and decided to intervene as soon as we could rather than allowing you to be put in harm's way."

Chloe just stared at her. Then it hit her, Dev was on his way here right now!

"He's coming here." She said.

For the first time, she saw something akin to panic spread across Ms. Potts' face.

"We have a date at seven."

Ms. Potts stood up and looked at the clock. Six-forty-five.

"We need to leave." She stated, or rather, commanded.

"But, I – "

"Now!" Ms. Potts commanded.

Ms. Potts grabbed her arm, her grip surprisingly strong and pulled her across the apartment.

"But, clothes!" She protested.

"We'll provide anything you need." Ms. Potts answered basically shoving her to the door. She held out her hand. Chloe just looked at her, confused.

Ms. Potts rolled her eyes.

"Keys!"

"Oh, right." She said stupidly. She reached behind Ms. Potts and grabbed the keys off the bowl on the entry way table.

Her hands shook as she locked the door.

"Come." Ms. Potts said urgently, and pulled her towards a waiting car. She opened the back seat door and basically pushed Chloe in before getting in herself.

"Happy. Drive." She commanded.

R

MJ and Ned sat on the coach in Ned's living room, a laptop sitting between them on the coffee table.

"So, here's the plan." MJ announced, turning slightly to face Ned.

"The most obvious course of action is to prove that Mr. Stark is innocent."

Ned nodded slowly.

"The only problem with that is that we're not detectives." He said.

She gave him a weird look.

"So, what? She asked.

He had no response.

"Look, the sooner Mr. Stark's innocence is proven, the sooner we get Peter back." She said, hoping he would bit.

"So, what are you thinking, hack into the cameras at Marton Tech and see if they got anything?"

She shook her head.

"If the cameras had anything this case would have been over by now. Either Stark would be in prison, or that woman would be facing charges for provoking him."

"Okaay." He said slowly. "So… what do we do then?"

She gave him an incredulous look.

"We find the missing kid. The one she said Stark took away. And when we find him, we can have hand him over to the police where he can tell them that it wasn't Stark."

"Okay. A few things with that." Ned began, "First of all, we have no way of figuring out who this kid is, if he's even related to that woman, and we only have one picture of him, the one that's been all over the news." He saw MJ's face become thoughtful at this, but he powered on, "And secondly, if the kid is in any real danger, well, that's something that we need Peter for."

MJ's head snapped up.

"Why would we need Peter for that?" She asked.

Ned swallowed, realising his foolish error.

"Uh, well, uh. No reason. Just that, you know. He's, uh, good under pressure."

MJ stared at him for a moment, her eyes narrowed, obviously making notes in her head.

"Okay." She said slowly. "Something you said, before the stupid Peter comment."

Ned looked at her, eager to hear her observation.

"There's only one picture." She said.

He looked at her, quizzically. She rolled her eyes in response.

"When people are that desperate to have their kids back, they post multiple pictures. Especially if the media is on their side! Think about it Ned, if the media was giving you this much attention, wouldn't you give them anything to find the one thing you love the most in the world? When people post multiple pictures, it builds an emotional connection with the audience, because it's no longer just some kid, some face. It's someone's son, their little boy!"

Ned's felt his eyes widen, catching on with what MJ was implying.

"So you're saying, that's not her kid?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Exactly!"

"But why would she lie about that?" He asked. "And why try and pin it on Tony Stark?"

She was silent for a moment, eyes moving ever so slightly as she worked the puzzle in her head. She eventually sighed and shrugged.

"No idea." She admitted. "Maybe she's just crazy."

Ned nodded.

"But, if we can either find the kid, or even just prove that the kid isn't hers, we might be able to help Mr. Stark."

"And then we get Peter back!" Ned added happily.


	14. Chapter 14

Peter missed Queens. He missed the bustling sounds of the street, he missed having buildings he could swing off of. He missed the eccentric personalities he would bump into on the street as Spider-Man. But he missed one eccentric personality more than the others. He thought about Ned and MJ, he hoped that they were not worried about him. Maybe they had assumed he was sick and his phone was broken? He shook his head from where he lay on the single bed in the darkened room. They were not that stupid. He let out a sigh, feeling restless, and kicked off the covers. He pressed the button on his alarm clock and squinted slightly at the brightness of the blue light that filled the room. Three o-clock in the morning. He sat up on his bed. He longed to go outside and spend some of this energy as Spider-Man, it had only been a few days since they arrived here and he was dying! Deciding he would go out, albeit, as Peter Parker, he quietly opened the window of his ground floor bedroom, hoping that May was deep enough asleep that she wouldn't hear him. Quickly, and silently, he threw on some shorts and an old shirt, and then, after tying the laces on his running shoes, snuck out of the window and ran down the drive way.

It was exhilarating, just being able to run. Mr. Stark forbade him from leaving the house, but what could it hurt if he ran at night when everyone else was asleep? No one would see him. And he was pretty sure that no one out here in this tiny town would even care if he were here. He laughed to himself, almost giddy to be out of the house. His legs carried him to the end of the driveway. He stopped a moment, not even slightly panting. Looking around him he took in the sights. He could see fairly well in the dark, and could take in almost every detail of the surrounding fields. Across from him was a large, grassy field, and in the middle of that field stood a large brick house. Peter frowned slightly, the house looked a little out of place. He shook off the thought and began to jog down the dirt road, appreciating the quietness now that he was moving. The air felt cool around him, and so fresh! He legs carried him faster, and eventually he came across another property about two fields over from where they were staying. He looked at the house. It was more similar to the one that he and Aunt May were staying in. It was weather worn from years of neglect, but Peter suspected that the insides were warm, friendly, and cosy, just like the house he was in. He decided to continue just a little further. He came to one final property on his run. Once again, this house was worn down by age. There was overgrown grass in the middle of the drive way and a rusting letter box out the front. Peter frowned slightly.

"Either one of these farmer's is doing really well. Or they don't belong here." He muttered to himself.

Feeling that he had been gone long enough from the house, and not wanting to risk his absence being discovered, he ran back down the road toward his house, stopping once again at the end of the drive way to look at the large brick house across from theirs. He gave it a quizzical glance, then shook his head. He did not have time to check it out tonight. Turning around, he began his short run back up the drive and snuck back in through his window. Felling much better, and far less antsy, he lay back on his bed with a small smile on his face. Tomorrow night he would investigate the brick house.

What he had failed to notice, was that after he turned away, a tall figure had watched him run up the driveway and crawl into his window.

R

Tony paced in his lab, running his hands through his hair for the thousandth time that hour. He was a mess; he was working on one hour of sleep over the last three days. Coffee fuelling him.

"Friday, where's Pepper?" He asked, slight agitation in his voice.

"Ms. Pott's is speaking with Miss Watson in the kitchen. I believe they are discussing safe house options." Friday answered.

He ran another hand through his hair, and then rubbed his face.

"Shall I send for her?" Friday asked.

"Hmm? Oh, no." He replied absently.

A small sound went off on the phone on the table next to him. He looked over. It was Peter's phone. It had been going off consistently since he had forced the kid to leave it behind, not trusting him to keep his location a secret from Ned. He had been successfully ignoring it until now.

"Friday, where's Pepper?" He asked, again.

He had never heard the AI sigh before, but it sounded so dramatic that even he, in his current situation was able to crack a smile.

"I've sent an alert to her phone that you are looking for her. May I suggest resting whilst she finishes up with Miss Watson?"

"Uh, let me think. No thanks."

"You must rest, boss." The AI answered, concern in her voice.

"I'll rest once this is over." He mumbled.

He needed to keep moving, he needed to keep his mind active. So, he walked over at sat at his computer, the screen came to life, and, after typing in his password, revealed the half-finished code he had been writing before his panic attack had forced him to stop. He felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of it. He pushed himself away from the desk.

"Friday."

"Yes, boss."

"Delete the code." He said.

"Sure thing, boss."

The phone buzzed on the table once again. Unable to ignore it any longer, he walked over and picked it up. He was not surprised to the dozens of messages left there by Ned and MJ.

He swiped across and was given the option to type in Peter's passcode. He rolled his eyes and scoffed, he really needed to get Pete a new phone after this, maybe one of his own new models. The iPhones were so outdated. It only took him two attempts to enter Pete's code before he was in. He looked up, glancing around the room as though he was breaking some law. He sat down on the stool near the bench and began scrolling up to Ned's oldest message.

He let out a slight laugh as he read one of the messages.

_"__OMG. TONY STARK KNOWS MY NAME." _It read.

He laughed at the GIF Pete had sent back. But he had clearly scrolled to far, he wanted messages from when Pete had been sent away. He quickly found them, and his heart twisted oddly in his chest as he read them.

_"__Peter! You okay? Haven't been to school yesterday or today. Let me know man."_

_"__Peter, seriously. Dude, you okay? MJ and I are worried."_

_"__Dude, just say the news about Mr. Stark. You okay man?"_

He scrolled further, his eyebrows raising and breath catching in his throat as he read a more recent message.

_"__MJ has a theory. She thinks Mr. Stark sent you away before the whole thing with Marton Tech and the woman. She thinks you don't have your phone anymore."_

Tony looked around the room, confused as to why Ned would message if he knew that Peter didn't have his phone. He scrolled further, reading the next message.

_"__She thinks Mr. Stark has your phone."_

He held his breath. He scrolled down, but it refused to go further. He read the final message.

_"__Mr. Stark?"_

He looked at the time the message was sent. Five minutes ago.

"Damn." He whispered to himself.

He clicked out of Ned's messages and found MJ's. He was taken aback immediately.

_"__Mr. Stark we know you have Peter's phone. We have an idea about the kid the lady said was taken. Can we meet?"_

_"_What the hell?" He muttered to himself.

These kids were smart. They'd figured out in just a few day's that Peter was in fact safe, and that it had been Tony Stark who had sent him away. More than that, they knew that he would snoop through Peter's phone!

He closed MJ's messages and put the phone down. He leaned against the counter. He honestly felt like he could accept any help he could get at the moment. But he knew better than to approach two kids publically, especially with the accusations being made against him. He had to find some way of approaching them inconspicuously. He steepled his hands under his chin, and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the lift open, allowing Pepper to step out. He hadn't seen her all day, and he felt bad for it, knowing that she was running around fixing his mistakes. They locked eyes through the glass wall and he heard her gasp as she took in his appearance. She stepped forward, typed in her code and entered the lab, leaving the door open.

"Tony." She said to him gently.

He just looked at her, head resting on his hand as he sat hunched over the bench.

She walked over to him, pausing beside him for a second, eyes never leaving his. After a moment, she lifted her hand and ran it through his hair, pulling him to her, his head resting against her front. She played with the hair at back of his hairline, sending calming chills down his body. He ran a hand around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he accepted her comfort.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled into her jacket.

She just sighed, her other hand rubbing his back gently.

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

He cringed as she said this. It was his fault. It was one-hundred-percent his fault!

She looked down at him, and kissed the back of his neck.

"I love you, Tony." She mumbled into his skin.

He lifted his head to look at her, taking in her beautiful features, eyes searching hers.

"I love you, Pep." He whispered.

"Chloe will be joining us in a second. I just sent her to the bathroom." She said, eyes still searching his face.

He nodded wearily.

"You look like a wreck." She whispered.

He didn't reply, just kept looking at her.

She lent down, cupping his face gently and kissed him, he leaned into her gentle touch slightly, letting out a small sigh. She pulled back, her lips millimetres from his.

"We'll get through this." She whispered.

He hummed his agreement, capturing her lips with his and allowing his arm to pull her closer between his legs as he sat on the stool.

"Tony," She whispered, a slight breathlessness in her voice, "Please, come to bed tonight." She pleaded.

He just pulled her tighter to him.

A small cough startled them apart.

Tony stared wide eyed at the woman before them, his arm still locked around Pepper's waist. She was blushing, obviously embarrassed to have interrupted their moment. His eyes snapped back up to Pepper, questioning, before returning to the woman, not quite trusting her presence.

"Chloe, uh, sorry, we just –" Pepper began.

"It's okay." Chloe cut her off gently, still slightly flustered. "I get it."

"Uh, um, okay." Pepper said, pulling herself from Tony's arms and turning to properly face the woman. "Tony, this is Chloe. Chloe, this is Tony." She introduced them.

Tony just nodded her way a little, not really having the energy for much else.

She gave him an odd look.

"You look like crap." She blurted out, then her hand flew to her mouth, "I'm so sorry, it's just that you, well, you know. You're Tony Stark!"

Pepper raised an eyebrow, surprised to see Chloe react this way to Tony. Sometimes she wondered if she had grown immune to his star power and charisma, she wondered if it was that or if she had seen him broken so many times that she knew he wasn't as strong as he appeared to be.

Tony gave Pepper a quick look, a curious brow raising, not even attempting to hide his irritation at the woman's over the top reaction to him. He was far too tired for that.

"Sorry." She mumbled. "It's just been a weird night."

Pepper smiled at her, understanding a little better.

"It's fine. We've had worse reactions to meeting him before." She said with a small chuckle.

Tony just rolled his eyes and forced himself to sit up properly, a small wave of dizziness coming over him as he did. He looked at the woman again.

"You're Marton's girlfriend?" He asked rhetorically.

"Not for much longer I hope." She answered.

He noticed her accent.

"Australian?"

She nodded.

"When did you move here?"

She began to fidget with the bottom of her shirt as she spoke, clearly distracting herself from some deeper pain. Tony understood this.

"In June."

He raised his eyebrows, and gestured for her to sit in one of the other stools at the bench. She walked over and sat on his left. Pepper stood behind Tony, her hand resting on his shoulder as they waited for her to further explain her story.

"I was born and raised in Australia, I moved over after my family died," she began, her voice shaking a little, "First my father in a work accident. Then my mother in a bus crash. Then my brother, then aunties and uncles, then finally grandparents. It was just too much." She said quietly, her eyes misting.

She took a shaky breath.

"I was so depressed after that. I waited, hoping it would lift, but it just stayed on me. It was so heavy that I could barely function. I loved the kids I was teaching, but I couldn't give them my best. And so, I decided to have a fresh start."

"And you came here." Tony surmised.

She nodded, tears freely flowing down her cheeks.

"I met him at the airport." She began again. "He was so nice to me, and I had lost all of my friends. I was so lonely. I just wanted someone." She wept, heavy sobs coming from her.

Pepper reached around and rubbed her arm gently.

"He paid for me to get an upgrade on my ticket and I ended up in business class with him. I had no money, and so he said I could return the favour by getting dinner with him once we arrived in New York."

Tony dropped his head, shaking it a little. He remembered using lines like that in his playboy days. Those days over a decade behind him now. He looked up at Pepper for a moment before looking back at their guest.

She took a deep breath, calming herself to continue her story.

"I applied at Midtown Science and Technology and I was so happy when I found out I got the job. I called him and asked him to dinner to celebrate. That night we began our relationship. That was half way through June. It's been a few months, and I've made new friends here, close friends. But he started getting jealous of them, and he'd get mad when I didn't text him back, but I figured that he was just stressed from work. But Pepper showed me the video of him here and I can understand that, you know, he's just like that. He's horrible. And now I think back, I can see the little ways in which he was using me, or manipulating me."

She looked directly into Tony's eyes.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Stark. I know you would never hurt that kid." She said softly.

He quickly wiped away the tears that had formed in his own eyes and took a deep breath.

"Well, uh, it's uh, been a long night." He said, clearing his throat.

"We should all get some rest." Pepper suggested, emphasising this to Tony by squeezing his shoulder.

He nodded and jumped off of the stool.

"I'll show you to your room, Chloe." Pepper said, her hand firmly grasping Tony's so that he would be forced to come to bed.

They rode up in the lift together and then walked down the long hall way. Pepper opened Chloe's door, revealing a large bedroom.

"I hope you're comfortable here." She said with a small smile.

Tony stood behind her, his hand still locked in Peppers grip. He was completely zoned out.

"It looks wonderful." Chloe replied. "Thankyou Pepper. For everything."

Pepper gave her a kind smile.

"Rest well."

After Chloe shut the door, Tony zoned back in and found himself being dragged down the hall by Pepper towards their room. Once inside, she looked at him for a second, and then walked away to the bathroom. He watched her go, feeling a little helpless. Feeling dizzy again, he went to the end of their bed and set down with his head in his hands. He zoned out again until he felt her sit next to him.

She held out two pills and a glass of water.

"You have to sleep, Tony."

He looked at her for a second, then accepted the pills, swallowing them dry.

Only thirty minutes later, he slept, completely knocked out. Pepper lay next time him, watching for signs of nightmares, but gently stroking his head, hoping that it would ease his mind, even in sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Hi all, thank you so much for taking the time to read this story. This is the first fanfic I've ever written, so I hope that it hasn't been too bad so far. Only five chapters left until the conclusion of this story, so please leave a review below so that I can take on your constructive criticism. Again, thank you for taking the time to read my story this far, and I hope you enjoy the final chapters! J

P.S. If you have not noticed already, I am not from the U.S., hence the use of British English on words like 'Mum', and using an 's' instead of a 'z' on some words. Just wanting to clarify so you don't think I just have poor spelling skills.

R

_"__Hey, sorry I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and I'll get right back to you."_

_*beep*_

"Hey Chloe. Dev again. Just worried babe. You've disappeared. I'm gonna come 'round later tonight and check your place to make sure you're okay. See you soon… hopefully."

He placed the phone down on his desk harder than he had intended to, his anger growing inside of him as he leaned back in his chair. He reached over and pressed the intercom button on his office phone.

"Get me Janice.' He snapped to the poor girl who was his assistant.

"Yes sir." Came her slightly high pitched response.

Dev knew very well that the girl was afraid of him. She had seen the man throw a fit on more than one occasion, and been the one to clean up the numerous broken glasses he would throw at the wall's when something didn't work out.

"She's on her way." She said after a moment, the flashing light on his phone going down once she ended their call.

Dev pushed back from his desk and began to pace the carpeted flooring between his desk and the large window that offered views of the night city. He froze, staring at Stark tower that seemed to loom above him. He felt a further, deeper anger surge through him. He stood in his darkened office, not in the mood for bright lights, all that illuminated his way was the lights from the numerous buildings around him.

Someone walked into the room, closing the door behind them. It was the small, muscular woman.

"Boss." She said as greeting.

He did not move from where he stood, and so she walked over and stood next to him, also staring up at Stark tower.

He admired Janice, she was not at all intimidated by him. On second thought though, it could have been put down to the fact that she was not smart enough to know who she should or shouldn't be intimidated by.

"Good job with the kid thing. Real convincing, even I thought he was yours for a second." He said in a low voice.

She looked up at him, something akin to a smile coming over her face as she crossed her arms in front of her, clearly proud of her acting skills.

"It wasn't hard." She said in her gruff voice, "Plus, he was suited up before I even threw the first punch. He basically walked into it."

He had to admit, hearing about how that did bring a small smile to his face. He even let out a small chuckle.

"You know, Janice," he began, looking over at her slightly as he spoke, the city lights highlighting the angles oh his face, "I thought it would be harder than this."

She gave him an odd look, clearly not comprehending his train of thought.

He rolled his eyes slightly.

"Taking down Stark!"

"Oh, right!" She nodded.

"It's only been a few days but already half of the world hates him. I mean, a quarter already hated him, but that quarter now hates him more." He turned to face her fully. "Do you know what that means, Janice?"

Her eyes narrowed for a second, thinking. But then she just shook her head.

"It means that we're winning!" He said, slightly breathlessly.

"That's good, boss!" She answered, excitement coming into her eyes.

"You know, he deserves this," he said, walking away from Janice back to his desk, frowning slightly as he saw he still had no response from Chloe.

Janice rolled her eyes, she had heard the boss go on his rant about Stark multiple times. He believed that Stark had been handed everything in life on a silver platter, that he had lucked into the Iron Man invention, and that the only reason he held political influence was because of the wealth he had amassed from Stark Industries. He also believed that Stark was clinging to the spot light, desperately afraid of losing the fame he had acquired over the years.

But to her surprise, he had said none of this. Rather, he was leaning over his desk, glaring down at his phone.

"You alright, boss?" She inquired from where she still stood near the windows.

He was silent for a moment, glad for the darkened room, it helped him think.

"You seen Chloe today?" He asked, trying his best to sound casual.

She shook her head. It was quite normal for Dev to send Janice around to Chloe's house to make sure she was where she said she was. Chloe, of course, was never aware of Janice's presence.

"Didn't go past her place today, boss. You think she's cheating?"

He let out a snort, and turned to face her.

"As if anyone else would be interested in that bitch." He spat, and then added dramatically, "She should be grateful that I still pity her enough to even bother allowing her to be in my presence."

Janice raised an eyebrow, biting back a humoured smile.

"I went to pick her up last night, she wasn't home. Or, she didn't answer the door at least." He said, his eyes narrowing.

He jumped into action, brushing past Janice as he grabbed his coat and made for the door.

"Come, Janice. Let's pay her an unexpected visit."

Janice grinned and followed her boss out of the darkened office.

They drove over in relative silence, Dev playing on his phone while Janice drove them.

"One street away." She informed him.

He pushed his phone into his suit pocket quickly and took in the neighbourhood around him. He hated Brooklyn, he hated coming out here. Right now, they drove down 6th avenue, her apartment complex only two blocks away. The street lights illuminating the car as he explained their plan to Janice.

"Stay in the car unless I give you to signal. If she's home, I don't want her seeing you."

"Sure, boss." She replied as she gently braked out the front.

As soon as they stopped he jumped out of the door and run up the foot path that led to her ground floor apartment. Seeing the lights on, he knocked on the door. There was, just as there had been on his previous visit, no response. He frowned severely, and walked over to the front widow, the lace curtain slightly obscuring his view.

He turned, and waved at Janice, signalling for her to join him. She joined him outside the window.

"Okay," He whispered. "We'll have to break in. Do you have the key I asked you to get?"

She nodded, and pulled out a key from her pocket. He had copied Chloe's house key a week after she moved in the place, for emergencies of course. And right now, he was happy to tell himself that this was an emergency.

He took the key from her hand and pushed it into the lock, turning it with ease. Slowly, he pushed the door open, looking into the apartment as he did so.

"Chloe?" He called gently. "You okay? We're worried about you."

No response.

He signalled for Janice to join him and the two of them walked into the empty living room. There was no sounds of life in the apartment. He looked around the room and found what he was looking for. A camera. It didn't send anything out to him, just recorded what happened in this room. He had installed it after their first date, and routinely changed the memory cards and checked the footage when he came to visit. It sat behind her small flat screen t.v., a place she very rarely went over to.

He picked up the camera, and turned to Janice.

"Check the rooms. Make sure she's not hiding." He ordered.

She nodded and went to do so.

Turning the camera over to the viewing screen, he selected the preview option and fast forwarded the footage until he saw her answer the door. He felt the anger returning to his chest.

"That stupid bitch.' He muttered to himself.

"Not here boss." Janice reported back, sauntering in to the room to stand next to him.

"No, she's not." He stated, and then held up the camera so that Janice could see.

She raised her brows, a little surprised.

"Looks like she sold out to Stark."

R

Late Wednesday night, at about the same time that Dev Marton broke into Chloe's apartment, Peter Parker got up from his bed and slipped on some clothes and his running shoes. He stood silently in his room, using his keen hearing to check on May's breathing in the other room. Slow and steady. He grinned to himself and he pounced silently across the room and slipped out the window and sprinted down the drive way. He reached the end of the gravel drive quickly and paused, taking in the surrounding area once again. He looked across at the large brick house some ways across the field before him. He briefly considered his options, not once stopping to ask himself why he was s curious about a house.

"Could just find the drive way." He muttered to himself as he thought out loud.

He quickly shook that thought from his head.

"No, that's stupid Peter. They'd see you coming."

He took another moment, before sprinting across the narrow dirt road that divided the two properties and jumping the fence with ease. Once across the fence, he dove into the long grass and stayed still for a moment, before raising his head to see if any lights had come on in the house. He felt a little foolish, of course no lights had come on. He was still a long way off from the house, and it wasn't as though he expected an attack!

Standing up, he decided to simply walk toward the house, acknowledging that the chances of being seen on such a dark night were minimal. He walked quickly, the long grass brushing against his knees as his feet brought him closer and closer to the house. As he approached it, he felt his heart beginning to pound, and a light, nervous sweat appeared under his arms. But none of his spidey-senses indicated that he was in any immediate danger, and so he continued on.

He came to the edge of the long grass, suddenly meet with short, manicured and shiny looking grass. Peter scrunched his brow, even more confused. Every other house in the area was surrounded either by over grown, brown grass, or, like the house he and May shared, dirt. He paused, looking up at the house that now only stood a few meters away from him. He looked over the two-storey building, taking a moment to look at all of the windows. No movements caught his eyes. He leaped over quickly to the side of the building. Once there, he waited, listening for any sounds of movement inside the building. Hearing nothing, he silently took off his shoes and began to climb the wall to one of the second story windows. It only took him a few seconds. He remained perfectly still for a second, before reaching out his hand and sliding the window open. He grinned to himself, and, with a quick glance around him, dove through the window and into the room. He landed in a small room with polished wooden floors, and a plush, white rug in the centre. He grinned as he stood up, looking behind him as he walked forward, he suddenly collided with something hard.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?" Asked a voice, suddenly.

Peter jumped back, heart pounding in his throat, legs spread, ready for attack.

The man asked again, his figure obscured by a particularly dark shadow that even Peter was struggling to see through.

"I asked you, what the hell are you doing?"

Peter allowed a quizzical expression to pass over his face, he knew that voice.

"Rhodey?"

"Yeah kid," Colonel Rhodes said, stepping out of the shadow, "And I asked you a question."

Peter felt his eyes go wide, and his heart was pounding faster than before.

"Oh no, this is bad. This is very bad." He muttered to himself, his feet shuffling as he considered simply diving back out the window.

"Hell yeah it's bad." Rhodes said, continuing forward to stand in Peter's personal bubble. "Now answer the question, kid. What are you doing."

"I, uh, well, I" He stammered.

Rhodes gave him a warning look.

"I just needed to get out of that house!" He offered quickly.

"So you thought, hey, I'll break into someone else's since I don't like my own."

Peter shook his head quickly, taking a step back from Rhodes.

"No, no, no, no, no. Nothing like that. I just wanted to see, that's all!"

Rhodes gave him a hard look.

"Not helping your case."

Peter just looked at him, out of answers. Rhodes continued to stare for a moment, arms crossed in front of him.

"You know there was a reason Tony told you not to leave the house."

"I-I know. Yes, sir." Peter mumbled quickly, his head down.

Rhodes threw up his hands, exasperated.

"I told Tony this would happen." He began, "But he was insistent that you would listen to him and actually stay in the house!"

Peter felt a stab of guilt pass through him. Once again, he had let MR. Stark down.

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

Rhodes let out a sigh.

"What if this was somebody else's house, Pete. What if this was some little girl's bedroom that you just came bursting through. You know how that would look?" He asked the kid urgently.

Peter's mouth opened and shut, he knew he could not say he had considered that.

"You need to think things through, Peter! God!" He cried, "It's like working with Tony 2.0!"

Peter gave him an odd look. Rhodes placed a hand on his arm.

"Tony already knows that you've left the house twice. He set up senses around the property, on the doors and on the windows. And he's been screaming at me because you can't follow simple instructions." Rhodes said quietly, his voice a little menacing.

Peter ducked his head further, thoroughly ashamed.

"I-I'm so sorry, sir."

Rhodes sighed, he couldn't stay mad at the kid for long.

"It's okay kid. Look, Tony is just looking out for you. You need to listen to him. Okay?"

Peter just nodded silently.

"Look. Just stay here tonight, and I'll take you back to your Aunt in the morning." He said softly, before adding in a much harder tone, "And if you even think about sneaking out of this house I swear I will tear up that Spider suit myself."

R

"Got anything yet?" MJ asked, pacing behind Ned as they work together in her living room.

Thankfully, both of her parents were away for the rest of the week, meaning they had tonight, Thursday, Friday and the whole weekend to figure out what they could about the kid before they were disturbed.

Ned sat on her plush couch, fingers typing furiously at the code he was working on to break into the NYPD secure database.

"Not yet, He answered, "But when I get in we won't have much time. What's the first thing I should look for?"

"Tony Stark." She answered, ceasing her pacing and coming to stand behind Ned, leaning over his should as the database appeared on his screen.

He typed the name in quickly.

"Woah!" They both exclaimed in unison.

"For a good guy, Mr. Stark has a long record!"

MJ pointed to the dates on the screen.

"Most of these are from 2008 and prior. Plus, this is not just the New York records. These include any criminal record he might have. That's why there are so many."

Ned scrolled through, reading the long list: Public intoxication, drunk driving, speeding fines and parking tickets, just to name a few.

"All of these are from before he became Iron Man." MJ muttered. "Look for any open investigations."

Ned typed quickly,

"Here. Investigation regarding missing child at Stark Industries." He read, pointing to the screen.

"Open it, look for the name of the kid." She said quickly, a sense of urgency filling her.

"Looking now…" Ned replied, eyes scanning the screen.

"Matthew Henry! He's, woah, only ten?" He looked up at MJ, "Why would a ten-year-old be on a school trip to Stark Industries. That place doesn't allow anyone under fourteen past reception! This is definitely a set up."

MJ nodded.

"Good observation." She affirmed, Ned gave her an odd look and gave unsure thanks, "What do the vic notes say?"

"Have you done this before?" Ned asked, a little suspicious.

"Yeah, all the time." She answered smoothly. "Now focus up. What do the notes say?"

He opened the notes.

"Ms. Henry was beyond hysterical in interview, did not provide details that could assist in the location of her son."

"Seems suspicious." MJ said.

Suddenly, the screen went black on the laptop. MJ shot Ned a questioning look.

"They've locked us out." Ned said.

"Can they trace us?"

"No, I used Tor, so it was bouncing from multiple i.p addresses. Plus, I doubt that they would even suspect that it's just some kids looking at the file."

As Ned said this, a harsh knock came to the door, startling both of them. MJ and Ned shared a look before she walked over to answer the door.


	16. Chapter 16

"Wait!" Ned called over urgently.

MJ paused, her hand on the door knob, ready to open the wooden door before her.

"The security chain!" He whispered.

MJ rolled her eyes, but attached the chain before returning her hand to the golden handle and opening the door as far as it would allow before catching.

"What?" She asked harshly of the person on the other side.

"Michelle Jones?" Asked the male voice on the other side of the door.

MJ peered out the see a broad man on the other side, he wore a black suit and had pushed some glasses onto the top of his head. He looked past her look at Ned.

"Ned Leeds?"

"What do you want?" MJ asked, leaning against the door frame, her face slightly hidden from the chained door.

"Mr. Stark wants to see you both."

Ned had begun to stand as soon as he heard the man's voice, he recognised it from the few times he had been given a lift home from hanging out with Peter at Stark tower.

"Happy, is that you?" He asked, his voice still cautious.

"Yeah kid, it is. Now come on. Boss is working with a tight schedule today."

MJ looked over at him, waiting to see what he would do.

Ned quickly shoved his laptop into his backpack.

"We can trust him, MJ. He's with Peter."

MJ gave him a suspicious look, obviously connecting some more dots in her head, before nodding slightly and unlatching the chain.

About an hour later, they sat in the back of a dark, spacious car, speeding through the lush, green country side. The partition between the passengers and driver had been raised as soon as they cleared the city, Happy already sick of MJ's line of questions, and, if Ned would say so himself, looking a little frightened of the girl. But now, after an hour's drive, the partition lowered once again.

"Okay, we're nearly there." Happy announced. "You'll need to leave your phones and laptops in the car. I'm going to drop you out the front, then you go straight to the front door. They're not expecting you, so don't be surprised if they're a little cautious in answering the door."

"Where are we?" Ned asked.

"Doesn't matter, kid." Happy responded, sharply, his eyes meeting Ned's in the rear-view mirror. "Just make sure you follow those instructions."

The car began to slow and turned down a long, gravel drive toward an old, wooden house. Finally, when they arrived at the front of the house. They had left MJ's house shortly after nine a.m, and right now, it was just after ten thirty. MJ looked around, confused as to how that had arrived in the country side after such a short drive. The car stopped in front of the house, and MJ opened the door and jumped out, Ned followed after her. As soon as the door shut behind him, Happy turned and drove off down the driveway, effectively abandoning the in front of the old house. MJ squinted up at it, shielding her eyes from the bright sun before looking over and Ned and jerking her head in the direction of the door.

They began to walk up the small front porch and had not even arrived at the wire door when it was suddenly pushed open.

"Ned! MJ!" A very excited Peter Parker exclaimed, as he dove at his friends and pulled them both into a tight embrace, MJ standing quite awkwardly, squished between Ned's side and Peter's surprisingly strong arm. She narrowed her eyes, making a mental note of this.

"Peter!" Ned said, slightly breathlessly, "I'm so glad to see you! We've been so worried!"

"Yeah, well. Mr. Stark didn't trust me not to tell you where I was." He explained with a slight shrug.

"No, no I didn't." Mr. Stark said, appearing at the side of the house and looking very out of place in his sharp suit.

Peter's mouth gaped a little, shocked to see his mentor standing there. Ned grinned wildly while MJ simply observed the interactions.

He walked over and slapped a hand on Ned's shoulder, giving the boy a grin, he gave MJ a quick, polite nod, and then stopped before Peter.

"Rhodey told me what you did." He said quietly, disappointment clearly showing in his eyes and his hands shoved into his suit pocket.

Peter looked down quickly, his cheeks heating up.

"what'd he do?" MJ asked loudly.

Peter's head snapped up, his cheeks warmed further, he looked between the two, almost begging that Mr. Stark wouldn't say anything.

"Snuck out of the house." He answered sharply.

"Wha – " He stammered, his eyes growing wide in embarrassment.

"Cool. How come?" She asked.

"Yeah, how come?" Ned asked, joining in.

Peter looked between the three of them, his arms crossing in front of him.

"I jus – "

"Just kidding. I don't care." MJ interrupted, causing Mr. Stark to look over at her once again, his face clearly hiding his smile. "Can we go inside, it's hot out here."

And with that she walked past them and into the house, Ned following closely behind. Peter turned to follow but found Mr. Starks hand on his shoulder, stopping him from escaping. He turned back, not quite willing to look him in the eye.

"Why didn't you listen to me, kid?" He asked, his voice low and gentle.

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

Mr. Stark sighed.

"What's going on Pete?" He asked, his arm going around Peter's shoulder as he turned the boy further away from the house and walked him a little down the drive way, just enough to afford them some privacy. "This keeps on happening. I tell you not to do something, and you do it. Then you apologise, I forgive you and the cycle starts again. Or, this one time, I told you to do something, and you didn't do it! It's not okay!"

"I-I'm sorry – " He began.

"Saying sorry doesn't count if you keep doing it." Mr. Stark interrupted him, his arm removing itself from Peters shoulder. Peter kept his head down, trying to hide how much the words hurt.

"Look, kid. As much as I want to stand here and lecture you, I have a lot on my plate. So do me a favour and just listen to me." He said sternly.

"Mr. Stark, I-"

"Nuh-uh!" Mr. Stark interjected, holding his finger up. "Just listen and do as I say. You have to trust me Pete." He implored the boy.

"Okay." Peter said quietly, nodding his head slightly, still refusing to meet his eyes.

Mr. Stark hesitated for a moment, bore placing a rough hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Come on kid, let's get inside." He said gruffly, before walking toward the house, leaving Peter with no option but to follow, he head still bowed in shame.

Coming closer to the house, he could hear the sounds of laughter in side as May and Rhodey chatted together in in the kitchen and Ned bombarded Mr. Stark with questions. He walked through the front door, his eyes met May's, she gave him a soft, pitying smile. She hadn't been too mad at him this morning when Rhodey had returned him, and now he knew why. She was waiting for Mr. Stark to speak with him, Rhodey had obviously told her that he was coming that day.

"Alright, let's gather 'round." Mr. Stark said, gesturing everyone to join him at the small dining room table, they all squeezed around, chairs getting caught against each other as they nearly fought to be able to fit. Mr. Stark calmly observing this with a small smile on his face. "Alright kid's, settle down." He said with a slight chuckle.

Rhodey and May sat on either side of him, and Peter sat next to May, hoping that her body would act as a shield from Mr. Stark. He couldn't even look at the man, knowing he had disappointed him again.

"Okay, I'm going to lay out the situation. It should go without saying that what is said in this room stays in this room." He fixed MJ with a sharp look and pointed a finger at her. "We can trust you, right?"

She narrowed her eyes and look back at him, clearly unbothered by his attempt of a glare.

"What secret? That Peter is Spider-Man?" She asked, a small grin sneaking onto her face as she held Mr. Starks gaze.

"Wha- How?" Peter exclaimed.

Ned looked over at her, slightly shocked, and Mr. Stark just gave her a small smile.

"It was easy, considering how bad you are at sneaking around and the fact that Ned nearly told me like three times." She explained.

Peter gave Ned a sharp look, this was returned with a hurried explanation on Ned's part, defending himself.

Mr. Stark just laughed slightly, Aunt May and Rhodey sat, simply observing the situation.

"Well, looks like we would have to have trusted you regardless." Mr. Stark said, continuing to lay out the details. "Here's the situation. On Saturday morning, just before nine a.m. Dev Marton and an accomplice came to my apartment to attempt to Blackmail me into retirement through means of exposing Peter as Spider-Man. Immediately after this, Pepper and I organised for May and Pete to be removed from New York and brought out here. On Monday morning, Pepper and I met with Marton at his office to discuss possible options, this did not go well and Pepper and I were attacked in the lift by the same woman who accompanied Marton to my house. This woman then claimed that I took her son." He paused, then fixed MJ and Ned with a look.

"What have you two discovered about the kid?" he asked.

They both looked taken aback, even MJ's cool demeanour cracked for a second.

"How did you-" Ned began, unable to finish his sentence

MJ gave him a hard stare, her mind racing, trying to figure out how Mr. Stark knew what they were doing.

Mr. Stark grinned at them, obviously a little proud of himself.

"You're not the only one who can hack computers." He said to Ned.

"Is that how you found us?" MJ asked.

"What? Oh no.' Mr. Stark said, his face settling back into an arrogant smirk.

"I thought you said no one could trace the I.P address?" She asked, turning to Ned who was looking rather taken aback.

"Oh, I didn't trace the I.P address. I don't have time for that." Mr. Stark stated. "There's a tracking device on Ned's laptop."

The table exploded with exasperated sighs from May, Rhodey and Peter and infuriated gasps from MJ and Ned.

"Oh calm down!" Mr. Stark cried, his eyes rolling as he leaned back into his chair, his arms crossed and looking a little impatient. "Tell me what you know about the kid."

Ned and MJ just stared at him, and then shared a look before MJ shared what they knew.

And that was how the rest of the day was spent, each sharing what they knew while the others listened, and slowly, a plan was formulated to take down Dev Marton.

R

It was early in the evening that they finally got up from the table, a plan ready to be sprung into action, and while the others chatted amongst themselves, Peter quickly excused himself to go outside. He walked out of the back door and down the old, wooden steps into the over grown field. He continued walking until he stumbled upon a log that he decided was good enough to be used as a seat. He sat down, the grass itching his ankles slightly as he looked around him, taking in the beauty of the early evening country side. He heard a noise behind him, and turned to find that Mr. Stark was walking across the field to join him, still looking rather out of place. He turned away from him, but remained seated on the log, eyes fixated on the horizon before him. He heard Mr. Stark step over the log, and felt him sit closely beside him. They sat in silence for a moment.

"You alright kid?" Mr. Stark asked, his voice low and gentle.

Peter looked down at the grass before him, and nodded slightly.

"I was just scared." He said so softly that he didn't think Mr. Stark would hear him. He picked up a blade of grass and began to tear at it, giving it most of his attention.

Mr. Stark looked at him for a moment, before leaning his elbows on his legs and looking up at Peter, trying to catch the boy's eyes.

"Scared of what, Pete?"

Peter threw down the grass, and fixed his eyes again on the distant fields.

"It's just that, you know, you've been different." He said.

Mr. Stark drew his eyebrows together.

"I've been different?" he asked, sitting up slightly and adjusting his suit.

Peter looked over at him as he did this, he knew Mr. Stark was hiding something.

"Ever since we got back from Titan, you've been, you know, different!"

And the mention of Titan, Mr. Starks face drained of colour and he seemed to sway slightly.

Peter looked at his mentor in surprise, his hand grabbing Mr. Starks arm in an effort to support him.

"Mr. Stark. Are you okay?" He asked, his mind filling with concern.

"yeah, yeah. It's, uh," He looked over at Peter, obviously trying to recover quickly, his eyes narrowed slightly, trying to think, "How do you-"

Peter gave him a dis-believing stare.

"because I was there. So was the wizard and those other's." He said.

Mr. Stark suddenly stood up and walked a few meters, his back to Peter as he adjusted his suit once again. He seemed to look off into the distance for a long moment before he turned back to Peter, his face having returned to its normal colour. Peter just stared at him, unsure why he had reacted in such a way.

"Look, Peter. Let's not talk about that for now."

"Bu-"

"I said, enough!" Mr. Stark yelled, taking Peter by surprise.

He stared at Mr. Stark a long moment, watching as his mentor ran a hand over his face.

"I'm sorry, Pete." He said, coming to sit next to the boy once again. "I'm just tired. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

Peter looked over at Mr. Stark, noticing the grey hairs and baggy eyes once again.

"It's okay," He said quietly.

They sat in silence for another few moments.

"What are you scared of Pete?" He asked gently.

Peter sighed and took a shaky breath, his eyes misting slightly.

"I don't want to lose you." He said, looking at Mr. Stark. "Not you, not May. I can't risk it."

Mr. Stark's head dropped slightly, his eyes screwed shut.

"I don't have anyone else who means as much to me as you and May." Peter said quietly.

He watched as Mr. Stark raised his head, surprised to see a few tears falling down his face. Mr. Stark looked over at him, looking surprisingly vulnerable.

"Pete. How do you think I feel?" He asked. "God, I nearly lost Pepper a few years ago. I thought I lost you. I can't let that happen. Not again."

Peter looked at him.

"Well, maybe we should stick together then?" He asked.

Mr. Stark let out a small, sad chuckle, and threw his arm over Peter's shoulders, pulling him closer.

"Sound's good kid."

R

Chloe woke up, her head was pounding. She moaned slightly, attempting to stretch herself, but finding that she was unable to move.

"Boss, looks like she's awake." Came a gruff female voice.

She opened her eyes, head pounding harder as she did so. She was in what appeared to be an old, abandoned warehouse. It was dark inside, and smelled as though there was mould growing along some of the wooden beams.

"Where am I?" She slurred slightly, still feeling disorientated.

"Ah, good to see you're up!" Came Dev Martons voice.

Her heart began pounding in her chest, she knew instantly that this wouldn't end well.

"Dev…" She tried. She couldn't move her arms, looking down she saw that she had been tied to a chair, her legs bound to each of the chair legs, a rope around her middle and her hands tied behind her back. "Please…" she whispered.

He chuckled slightly, standing above her.

"What did you tell them?" He asked.

"Tell who?" She asked, feeling a little strength return to her and the ability to form sentences coming.

He leaned over her.

"Stark. What did you tell them?" He hissed.

She recoiled as far as she could.

"Nothing!" She said, desperately.

Dev stepped back and nodded to Janice, who stepped forward and slapped her across the face. Chloe cried out slightly, felling the sting on her check, and knowing that a bruise would form.

"Let's try again. I'm only going to ask one more time and then I'm going to let Janice here take out her pent-up energy on you." He said with a cruel smile.

"You're a monster!" Chloe cried.

He looked taken aback, even a little offended.

"Me?" He asked. "I'm no monster."

"You're ruining another man's life out of.. jealousy!"

"He does not deserve it!" Dev cried, walking back toward her.

"He has had everything handed to him!" He said furiously. "He deserves nothing. He's sit's up in his castle and look down on us peasants. He needs to step off of his throne and allow someone who has worked their entire life to have that authority! No, Chloe, babe, what did you tell them?"

"Nothing." She stated again.

Dev sighed.

"Okay then. Good luck surviving this." He said and then walked away, leaving Chloe alone with Janice.

Janice smiled at her and then landed her first blow.


	17. Chapter 17

The cars pulled up in front of MJ's house in the wealthier suburbs of Brooklyn. In the first car sat Mr. Stark, Aunt May and MJ. MJ had been secretly delighted to have been invited to ride along with May given that she thought of the woman as a strong role model. She had been indifferent to the thought of Tony Stark, who had spent most of the drive either dozing or playing on his phone in the front passenger seat while May and MJ chatted in the back. The second car had held Rhodey, Ned and Peter. The three of them playing multiple games of Uno for the entire trip, leading to a very grumpy looking Rhodey who stepped out of the car and a victorious looking Ned.

"You sure your parents won't mind having us here?" May asked MJ as the two stepped out of the car and began to walk up the footpath to her front door. Mr. Stark followed a small distance behind, just taking in the neighbourhood.

MJ shrugged.

"They're out of town until Sunday night."

May gave her a look, but didn't say anything, knowing it was not her place to admonish the girl. She looked back at Mr. Stark, knowing that despite his innocent face, he had been listening to the conversation.

"Did you know that?" She asked him.

He just shrugged and looked off again, his hands casually thrown in his pants pockets. The other boys came behind him, Ned and Peter speaking quickly and excitedly together and Rhodey looking more than a little put out.

Once they were all out, the cars were driven away.

MJ reached the front door and unlocked it, walking through she left it open for the others to follow. Once they were all in, they stood about the living room. She noticed Mr. Stark walking around slightly, picking things up, generally keeping his distance. She narrowed her eyes at him, watching him very carefully. He noticed this, and quickly put down the vase he had been holding.

"It's quaint." He said, trying to cover himself.

She stared at him, everyone in the room turning to observe their interaction. May secretly laughing on the inside at MJ's distrust of Mr. Stark.

MJ walked over to him and held out her hand. He simply looked at her, an innocent expression on his face. Peter crinkled his brow, unsure as to what was happening.

MJ looked at the vase and then back at Mr. Stark, her hand still out and glare hardening.

Mr. Stark rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But it's not on the vase. It's on your jacket." He said.

"Seriously?" Peter exclaimed across the room.

Mr. Stark shrugged.

"You mean the jacket that I took off and left in the car?" She asked, eyebrow raising.

Mr. Stark spun slightly on his feet, a small gleam of delight playing in his eyes.

"You're good." He noted with a chuckle, which quickly faded when he saw the expressions of the others in the room. "What? I'm just looking out for you guys. You know I wouldn't do anything weird with it."

"It's kind of weird just to start with, Tony." Rhodes said, his arms crossed.

"Yeah, I'm with Rhodey." Peter said, earning a smile from the other man.

Mr. Stark gave him a fake glare.

"Fine." He muttered. "Let's get to business."

He pulled something out of his pocket, it was a nano housing unit attached to a small t-shirt, quite similar to the one that he kept underneath his shirt to contain the Iron Man suit. He threw it to Peter who looked at him quizzically.

"Put it on, it contains your new suit. You might need it."

"A new suit!" Peter cried excitedly, holding the shirt for Ned to see.

"Just put it on, kid." Mr. Stark said with a small sigh. "Is every one clear on what they're supposed to do?"

A chorus of yes' came around the room.

"Great. Well, everyone else stay here as planned. Pete, let's go."

He walked towards the door and opened it, walking out to a new car that was waiting for him on the street. The others shared odd looks, unsure as to how the car got there.

"Today, kid!" He called as he walked down the pathway

Peter sprang into action, quickly glancing back at the others as he jogged after Mr. Stark and jumped into the Ferrari that awaited him. The engine roared to life as he got in, and he had barely clicked is seatbelt in when Mr. Stark sped off down the street towards Stark tower.

They drove in comfortable silence, Mr. Stark obviously lost in his thoughts as he listened to Friday give directions through his ear piece. Peter looked out through the tinted windows, watching the world go by. It was still late morning, they had all left the farm just after eight thirty. Peter became so lost in his staring that he didn't notice that had nearly arrived until he heard Mr. Stark curse under his breath.

"Give me a break!" He said loudly to no one in particular.

Before them, at the entrance to the underground carpark, stood at least twenty reporters and paparazzi, all eager to catch a glimpse of the great Tony Stark in the midst of his legal woes.

Peter looked over at him, looking quite small in the passenger seat, his face worried.

The cameras began to flash as they pulled closer.

"Friday, increase outside tinting. Flash proof."

The windows darkened slightly, but to the outside, they became matte black. Not even the best camera would be able to see through.

Mr. Stark turned slightly into the small driveway leading to the car park. Peter could hear the reporters clambering outside.

"Mr. Stark!" They yelled. "Will you make a statement on this missing child?"

"Did you kidnap Matthew Henry?" Another asked, struggling to be heard.

Peter looked over at Mr Stark again, he played his hands in his lap, before looking worriedly out at the reporters, some tapping the glass windows at the drove past slowly. The car stopped as Friday scanned the car before raising the boom gate to allow them in.

"Would it make it worse if they saw you with me?" He asked quietly.

Mr. Stark didn't respond. Just tightened his grip on the wheel and drove forward until he came to one of the multiple parking spots reserved just for him. They stopped, and just as Peter was about to open the door to get out, Mr. Stark suddenly lunged across and yanked the door closed. Peter looked down at the man who half lay across him.

"Lock the doors Friday."

The doors clicked.

"Wha-"

Mr. Stark threw his hand over Peter's mouth and nodded to a man who stood in front of the lift that would lead them up to their apartment. He was clearly an over eager member of the paparazzi, as he held his camera in his hand. Mr. Stark pushed himself up and sat in his own seat properly. Peter felt himself shrink down into his seat slightly.

"What do we do?" He whispered frantically.

"We get Happy." He replied. "Friday, get Happy down here. Now."

"Will do," Peter heard her respond into Mr. Starks ear.

They waited in tense silence for two minutes until the lift binged and Happy stepped out. He placed a hand on the man's shoulder. The man shrugged him off, his camera remaining ready to shoot. Happy tried again, the man remained adamant. Mr. Stark sighed.

"Okay. Stay here kid." He said, just before he touched the door handle, he turned back, "I can trust you to listen to me, right?"

Peter nodded quickly.

Mr. Stark jumped out of the car, only opening the door a little to not to give the man any view of the boy inside the car. The man lifted his camera and immediately started taking pictures.

"I think my security is telling you to leave." He glowered, walking over to the man.

"What about the missing kid, Stark?" The man asked, eager for a story.

Mr. Stark reached out and grabbed the camera, pulling it out of the man's hands. The man, stupidly, looked surprised.

Mr. Stark got right in his face.

"Get out!" He all but screamed, then he turned and threw the camera as hard as he could against the concrete wall of the carpark.

The man cowered back a little, Happy took the opportunity to grab his arm and begin half dragging him into the lift next the Mr. Starks personal one. Once the doors closed, Mr. Stark took a deep breath and waved over to the car, signalling to Peter that it was safe to come out.

Peter got out slowly, his eyes flickering over the carpark for signs of other intruders. Certain that the area was secure, he walked briskly over to where Mr. Stark stood waiting for him next to the lift. He stood close to the older man, His arm brushing Mr. Starks as they waited for the lift to arrive. Mr. Stark looked down at him, and noticing the scared look on his face, put an arm around the boy's shoulders as the doors opened and they stepped into the left.

"Pepper's office." He said to the AI as the doors closed and the lift began to rise.

R

Pepper sat behind her desk, chewing her bottom lip slightly. She felt anxious, she had not been able to get in touch with Tony all day. There was obviously something wrong with their connection, that or he was ignoring her calls. She looked around the spacious office, he eyes settling on the lift across the wide corridor outside the open door of her office. She sighed, knowing that worrying wouldn't change anything. Instead, she opened a document on her holographic computer and began to read the latest update on Stark stocks. They were bad, but not as bad as she had expected. She had a feeling that this would not be on ongoing trend, and that once they had cleared Tony's name, the stocks would rise to where they had previously been, perhaps even higher, she thought hopefully. In the meantime, they needed to be careful about what was released to the press, even one single mistake or small workplace accident could be blown out of proportion with the media watching them so closely.

The lift dinged, alerting her to Tony's arrival. She got up, feeling her irritation at him rise as she walked over to meet him halfway.

"You aren't answering your phone!" She accused him, finger point and brow wrinkled as she continued to walk towards him.

He held up his hands, walking slowly towards her. She noticed Peter standing slightly behind him, a concerned look on his face. She chose to ignore him and deal with the bigger issue, she could always apologise to Peter later.

She stopped about half a meter away from Tony just inside her office, Peter hanging back slightly, having sensed the need for privacy. She raised an eyebrow at him.

He gestured wildly with his hands, his looking around the room before settling on her gaze.

"We were at the farm! You knew that!" He whisper-shouted back at her, his eyes wild.

"I know that, but you could have checked when you got back in the car!

"Oh my –" He began, but Pepper cut him off.

"Nuh-uh." She said, holding her finger up to him. She saw Peters eyes widen when she did this, but she ignored him.

"I've been sitting here all day trying to get in touch with you."

"Pep." He said, not even getting a chance to get the word out.

"There is a situation and you've just been trying to ignore it."

"There's always a situation!" He spoke over her, voice rising slightly.

"Well this one's serious."

"They're all serious!" He all but yelled back.

She moved closer to him, face growing red.

"You're impossible! You run around this city, putting out other people's fires!" She screamed.

He yelled over the top of her,

"Yeah, because I have to!"

"No, you don't have to. You want to!"

"Well next time just tell me!"

"I've been trying to, but you won't pick up!"

"Uh, guys." Came Peters small voice.

Tony stopped mid-sentence, and turned from Pepper to face the boy. Pepper backed away from Tony slightly, knowing she had probably pushed that one too far.

She turned and walked back to her desk, willing herself to calm down. Tony hesitated, giving Peter a look before following her desk and sitting down in one the chairs opposite hers, slouching back slightly. He turned again, and gestured for Peter to follow.

She felt a little bad, the boy looked terrified. Perhaps he'd never seen two adults have a disagreement before. She watched as Peter looked cautiously between the two of them as he took his seat next to Tony.

She straightened her business jacket and fixed her gaze on Tony.

"Chloe is missing." She said.

Tony sat up suddenly, an eyebrow rising.

'What do you mean, missing?"

"I mean, she went down to reception to check out of the building and no one has seen her since."

Peter leaned forward slightly, raising his hand.

"Oh, Lordy. Please tell me you are not raising your hand to speak." Tony said with exasperation.

Pepper gave Tony a sharp look as Peter ignored the comment.

"Who is Chloe?" He asked.

Pepper and Tony shared a quick hesitant look.

"Peter, I'm so sorry." Pepper began, her voice gentle. "Chloe is Miss Watson. Your history teacher."

"My wha-. You mean they hurt her?" He asked, eyes going wide.

"We don't know that, Pete." Tony said, before looking back at Pepper, "Do we?"

Pepper hesitated once again.

"I reviewed the security footage. It looks like she was grabbed by Dev Marton."

Tony swore under his breath and Peter looked over to him, unsure of what to do.

"When was this?" Tony asked, leaning forward.

"Early this morning. We don't know where they were headed."

Peter looked between, an idea coming to his mind.

"Mr. Stark," he said quietly, "Did you maybe, put a, you know, device, on her."

Pepper looked at Peter, her own eyes widening, before she whipped her head around to face Tony, her mouth agape.

He held up his hands again, seeming to know that he was in trouble.

"In my defence…" He began.

"You're tracking people again."

"Well, yes. But no."

"Tony," she said, her tone dangerously even, "We talked about this. You can't put tracking devices on people without their consent."

"Well it might help us this time!" He said loudly.

Pepper rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Fine! Whatever." She finally said.

Peter watched the two of them, feeling uncomfortable as they disagreed with each other.

Tony stood up, pushing back the chair with his legs, looking over at Peter and signalling for him to stand also. Pepper just watched them.

"We okay?" Tony asked, keeping his tone light for the sake of the kid.

Pepper glared at him.

"We'll talk about this later."

He stared at her, his jaw jutting slightly, before he took a deep breath, his hand coming to rest behind his head.

"Okay. Well, stay here. I'll have Friday with me." He said, his head down, looking at her from under his lashes, looking for the life of him like a frightened school boy.

She sighed, letting out her own breath.

"Oaky. Don't get hurt." She paused for a second before getting up and walking around to where he stood. She placed a hand on his arm. "I love you Tony." She whispered to him, eyes searching his.

"Love you too." He mumbled back. "Does this mean you're not mad anymore?"

"Oh, no." She said, stepping back slightly, "I'm pissed."

Tony rolled his eyes slightly, then immediately regretted it from the look that Pepper gave him. He grabbed Peters shoulder and retreated hastily out of the office, mumbling something to the boy.

R

Dev watched the security footage of the warehouse with some sense of horror and mild disgust. Just hours after he and Janice had driven away, Iron Man and Spider-Man had appeared. How they knew where to find her, he had no idea.

He shut off the laptop, not really needing to know, nor really caring if they were able to find Chloe. He put his head in hands, realising the mistake he had made.

He needed to act. Now.

He needed to take down Tony Stark within the next twenty-four hours.


	18. Chapter 18

MJ didn't dislike hospitals, but she didn't enjoy them either. She hated seeing people dying, but a small part of her enjoyed observing those around her. And as she sat in the waiting room of Tisch Hospital, she observed those around her. Next to her sat May, who had offered to come with her to visit Miss Watson, knowing that despite her cool exterior showed nothing, the girl would probably want some form of emotional support, even if it was just having someone sit next to her. They sat there for what felt like hours, MJ leaned back in the chair, simply watching the nurses and doctors interact with each. She glanced over and stifled her smile as May dozed, her hand holding her face up.

"Miss Jones, Mrs. Parker?" A young, male nurse asked.

MJ elbowed May lightly, causing the older woman to stir and sit up, blinking as she attempted to catch up on anything she missed.

"That's us." My replied.

"Your friend is awake now, and seeing that she has no relatives here in the U.S., we have decided to allow special visitation rights to the two of you upon her request." The nurse explained. "Would you please follow me." He finished, and turned to walk down the wide corridor.

May and MJ jumped up from their seats, May still wiping a little sleep from her eyes as they followed the nurse to a private room. They arrived at the door where the nurse turned and spoke in a quiet voice.

"Her memory is fine. Please, remember that this is a traumatic experience for her. So please be careful about what you say."

May nodded and entered the room, MJ hesitated at the door, suddenly not feeling so ready to come face to face with her teacher. She looked around the room, purposefully avoiding the bed. It was clearly not a cheap room.

"Who paid for this?" She asked, looking back at the nurse.

"I believe that all of her bills are being covered by a private third party." He stated, his face stony.

MJ narrowed her eyes, knowing exactly who had paid for this room.

She looked in and swallowed slightly, then smiling once more at the nurse, she walked into the room.

"MJ!" Came the raspy voice on the bed.

MJ forced a smile, fighting back some tears at the sight of her teachers broken body. Her face was swollen beyond recognition, and she could see a cast covering her left leg and arm. There were marks on her neck, as though someone had attempted to strangle her, and patches of her hair were missing.

"Hi, Miss Watson." She said as gently as she could.

May placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I see you've met May?" She asked.

Miss Watsons eyes travelled up to meet May's, attempting a small smile.

"Yes, Peter's aunt." She replied before her voice gave out a little.

MJ just looked at her, her heart breaking a little.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

Miss Watson gave her a small, sad smile.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. This is on Dev Marton." She said, cringing as a coughing fit over took her.

May went to the table and got a glass of water.

"Can you swallow?" She asked.

Miss Watson nodded, and accepted Mays help in drinking the water.

"Iron Man and Spider-Man are looking for him. And Pepper is working to clear Tony's name and expose Dev Marton so that he can be brought to justice." May said as gently as she could. "Have you told anyone who did this to you?"

Miss Watson nodded slightly.

"First chance I got." She whispered.

MJ felt something rise in her, a feeling of power mixed with rage. She wondered if this was not the avengers felt when they had fought for earth in the battle over New York. She had the desperate desire to avenge Miss Watson. And as she and May left that room after an hour, she knew that she would do anything in her power to bring Dev Marton to justice.

R

A few hours after they left, they returned much to the delight of Pepper. Tony had even called on his way back to let her know they were both safe and had taken Chloe to the hospital. While she had been waiting for his return, Rhodey and Ned had shown up, followed shortly by MJ and May. She was, despite the circumstances, delighted to see, and in MJ's case, meet, each one of them and ushered them into her private conference room so they could begin their discussion.

She remembered a time before she had been the CEO, when Tony had everything still based in L.A.. She had hated that conference room. It was cold, metallic, and far too crisp. And so when Tony offered to let her design this one, she had asked so soft whites, creams and shades of green to be used. Now she sat in that very room, at the head of the long, white table, looking down at the small rag-tag team that tony had assembled to help clear his name.

"Thank you everyone for being part of this. It truly does mean a lot to both Tony and myself knowing that there are people who are willing to support us through this difficult time." She began, giving each of them a smile.

"Now, I'll cut to the chase. MJ, Ned, Tony said you two had information about the missing child. Could you please share that information with me?"

"Yeah, Sure, of course!" Ned began, eager to prove their worth to her.

He looked over at MJ, and to his surprise, MJ was merely staring wide eyed at Pepper.

He kicked her slightly under the table.

"You okay MJ?" Pepper asked softly.

MJ continued to stare for a moment longer.

"Oh, uh, yeah." She chuckled to herself slightly, "Just never thought I'd get to meet you. Much less, you know, talk with you."

Ned looked at her, slightly confused. He'd never expected MJ to be someone who could be star struck.

Pepper sent the girl a kind smile, and, if she was honest, she felt a little flattered to be receiving such attention.

"Sorry." MJ said quickly, Pepper just inclined her head slightly.

"Ned and I hacked into the NYPD case files to look up recent cases on Tony Stark. We found that the victim's name, which has now been advertised through the media, is Matthew Henry. He's a ten year-old-kid. However, Ned and I also came to the conclusion that the kid was not the child of the woman on the news."

She looked over at Ned, signalling for him to continue.

"Right." Ned began, picking up where MJ left off. "After Mr. Stark and Peter returned to the tower once we got back from the farm, MJ and I began to investigate the woman on the news. Peter had told us that it was the same woman who came here to threaten Mr. Stark. And, after some of the hardest hacking of my life, we cracked though Marton's system and found her file."

"Do you have a copy that I can see?" Pepper asked, hiding her amazement of the two teens.

Ned held up a small USB, and then slid it down the table towards Pepper.

"Everything we found is on there," He said.

"Anyway," continued MJ, "The woman's name is Janice clay, and when we dug a little further, we discovered that she was actually a HYDRA experiment, apparently from the same batch as Caps buddy."

Pepper raised her eyebrow at this, a small frown crossing over her face.

"We hacked into the surveillance footage at Marton Tech from about a week before he came over here to threaten Mr. Stark with the file on Peter. When we looked closely, we saw that he and Janice left together in a plain, black van at about 1pm the Thursday before the threats. They didn't return until after 6pm." Ned offered.

"That's all well and good," Pepper said, "But that's not evidence. They could have just been moving furniture."

"They could have," said MJ, "But we followed the surveillance footage from all the building that followed their route. They drove from mid-town to the edge of Harlem. There they stopped and picked up the kid from another guy. They paid for him in cash."

Pepper looked over at May as MJ said this, sharing a horrified look.

May leaned in.

"You have the footage of this?" She asked.

MJ and Ned both nodded.

"It's on the USB drive."

Pepper paused, and thought for a moment.

"This is exactly what we need to take him down." She stood from her seat, taking the USB in her hand. "Please stay in the tower. I'll hand this over to the police." She said to her guests as she left the room.

Walking down the hallway, she walked into her office, and, much to her delight, was met with two detectives with whom she had contacted for an appointment.


	19. Chapter 19

Peter and Mr. Stark raced through the city streets in the same Ferrari that had earlier brought them to the tower. Neither of them spoke, too on edge to hold casual conversation. Peter sat in his seat, tense and ready for a fight, his Spider-Man suit already on. Mr. Stark work a fitted shirt and running pants, the nano-housing unit glowing on his chest. He looked over at Mr. Stark and felt a little pity run through him for the man at the receiving end of his anger. After what seemed to be a long period of time, they finally began to drive in The Bronx, close to where MJ and Ned suspected the child was being held.

"Okay, kid." Mr. Stark began, voice hard and his eyes focused on the road, "When we get there we stick together. Understand? Under no circumstances are you to wander off somewhere."

Peter nodded and voiced his agreement.

"Remember, we both have tracking devices in our suits and ear pieces, so if we do get separated, make it a priority to re-goup."

"Yes sir!"

The car pulled up in front of a worn looking apartment complex. It's grey, mouldy exterior reminded Peter a little of a haunted house in one of the old movies he had watched with May.

Mr. Stark got out of the car and shut his door, then waited until Peter came to stand next to him. He looked over at Peter, a small trace of concern on his face as Peter looked very nervous.

"You alright, kid?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just ready to get this kid home!" He responded quickly, hoping to cover any nerves he was feeling.

Mr. Stark said nothing, but began to walk towards the building, still in his normal clothes, Peter following close in his suit. They walked cautiously up the steps, and Peter watched as Mr. Stark reached behind him and pulled something out that had been stashed in the waistband of his pants.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Peter cried "You brought a gun?'

Mr. Stark stopped climbing the stair for a moment and looked back at Peter, a little annoyed, his body tense and arms straight, finger on the trigger ready to fire.

"Yeah, of course I did." He replied, sounding a little bothered.

"Wh- why would you bring that?" Peter asked, his voice going up slightly in pitch.

Mr. Stark turned to face him fulling, his arms relaxing as he waved the gun slightly, his face still very much annoyed.

"In case Dev Marton is here and tries to attack us." He said, as though it was obvious.

"But don't you have the suit for that?"

Mr. Stark just rolled his eyes and flicked the safety back on the gun. Re-stashing it in the back of his pants.

"Have it your way." He muttered, still not suiting up, but began to casually climb the stairs that led to the old wooden doors. He looked at Peter for a second. "Remember, no talking unless necessary. So, no movie references!"

Mr. Stark turned the handle on the door and pushed it open, very slowly, peaking his head in before pulling it back out quickly.

"Too dark for me to see properly. You have a look, kid, and tell me what you see."

Peter nodded and walked over to the entry, his head peaking in just below where Mr. Starks had been a moment before.

He looked around the room. It was quite dark, and obviously had not had any visitors in some time if the amount of dust was anything to go by. He let his eyes wander around, and seeing a staircase just to the right of them, informed Mr. Stark, and the two of them cautiously walked in. Peter felt his arm hair's stand, his Spidey senses picking something up.

"Mr. Stark." He whispered, looking back the see the older man stumbling a little in the dark.

Mr. Stark looked in his direction, before reaching in a pocket and pulling out some glasses and smiling a little.

"You alright?" He whispered, walk a little more confidently over to Peter.

Peter looked at his glasses, they had obviously been programed to provide some form of night vision.

"I can sense something."

Mr. Stark raised his eyebrows.

"You think he's here?"

"I don't know, maybe? Maybe you should, you know, suit up?" Peter asked, worried about Mr. Stark.

Mr. Stark patted him in the should, smirking slightly, and walked past him, making his way to the stair case. He stepped on the first step and suddenly, a gun was shot.

Peter watched in horror as Mr. Stark let out a small yell and grasped his left shoulder. He ran forward, wanting to be at Mr. Starks side, but Mr. Stark looked at him, eyes wide.

"Pete, No!" He screamed, then tapped the nano housing on his chest, the suit beginning to cover him, not quickly enough though, as another shot was fired, hitting him, once again in his left arm.

He screamed in pain, falling backward against the wall, now clad in his suit.

Peter stood frozen, his heart pounding in his chest, his eyes fixed on the Iron Man suit that was slumped against the wall.

He could hear the sounds of someone, a man, walking down the stairs, slowly. He could hear them chuckling.

"Guess there's no point in hiding now." Came Dev Marton's voice, the footsteps growing closer, but the man being hidden by the wall separating the two of them.

Peter's breaths came deep and fast, his legs wanted to lunge into action, to sling across the room, through the wall and take the man down.

"No, Pete." Came the slightly mechanical voice of Tony. He sounded tired and slightly drunk, sending panic down Peter's spine. He watched as Iron Man lifted one finger on his right hand, and pointed to his head.

Peter had no idea what Mr. Stark was trying to say, but it reminded him, very quickly, of what he had been taught, over and over again throughout the last week.

"Okay, Peter." He said to himself, dragging his eyes off of Mr. Starks now motionless suit. "Think it through. Think it through Spider-Man" He whispered to himself.

A plan came to mind. He listened carefully for the footsteps. There was not one pair, but two.

"So, you've brought a friend." Peter whispered to himself, beginning to jump slightly on the spot, adrenalin coursing through him.

He aimed his arm up and shot his webbing. Then pulled himself up onto the ceiling. Once there he crawled silently over to the staircase landing, being careful to remain out of sight of the two walking down.

He crouched next to the wall, he could see Mr. Stark still lying there, but now he could see him face on. The footsteps stopped right before Mr. Stark and Dev let out another laugh.

"The great Tony Stark. Iron Man! Stopped by a bullet." He roared, and then brutally kicked the armour in the face plate.

Peter cringed as he heard Mr. Stark let out a yell of pain.

"Pathetic." Marton spat.

Peter narrowed his eyes, concentrating, he would only get one shot as this. There was no room for error. But Marton did not move beyond the landing. Instead, a woman's hand reached down and tore the face plate off of his helmet. Peter crawled closer and bit back his gasp as Janice threw the face plate into the entry way. Mr. Starks face was pale, his eyes drooping slightly, and blood ran down from his nose. Dev Marton held the gun back up, aiming at Mr. Starks face.

Peter jumped into action.

"Not today!" He yelled, and in the blink of an eye, swung down and snatched the gun from Marton's hand.

"Ah, Peter." Dev said, composing himself quickly. "Coming to the old man's rescue?"

Peter ignored him, rage building in his chest. He pounced off of the wall, slamming into Dev Marton, breaking through the wall behind him and landing in the large, dark entry.

Marton landed on his back, out of breath, with Peter still crouching in his chest.

Peter sensed the approach of Janice, and lunged up to the ceiling once again, before quickly coming down and tackling her to the ground. Looking over, he shot his webbing, trapping Dev Marton to the ground. But that was all he accomplished before Janice grabbed his arm and hurled him across the room.

He recovered quickly, landing in a corner that blocked his view from Mr. Stark.

She walked toward him, he lunged once again, but this time, she caught him by the arm and slammed him down to the floor, an evil grin on her face. He struggled, but she was his match, equal in strength and size. She let out a laugh as she put a foot on his chest and pushed down.

He felt a rib crack and let out a scream.

She leaned down and closed her palm around his throat, squeezing.

Peter struggled, he felt so weak. His body thrashed wildly, trying to escape, but all that came were his muffled, terrified screams.

Then, suddenly he heard a shot being fired. The woman let out her own painful yell, grasping the side of her chest. She turned and faced the shooter.

Peter watched on as Mr. Stark, once again in his normal clothes, which were darker and wet looking on his left, held up the gun he had stashed. He fired again, still from his slouched position against the wall, hitting the woman in the chest, then once more, hitting target in her head.

She stumbled away, blood pouring out of her wounds. Peter watched her, horrified as she fell to the ground, thankfully on her side, facing away from him.

He stared at her lifeless body for a moment before he felt a hand on his arm.

He looked up form where he half lay, Mr. Stark sat next to him, his right hand now grasping his wound once again.

"It's over."

Peter just stared at the dead woman, his mask melting back into the suit.

"Pete, it's over. Look at me. You're safe."

Peter felt shock coming over him, and tears began streaming down his face. He sat up and fell forward onto Mr. Starks good shoulder, crying hysterically.

He felt Mr. Starks arm rub his back gently as he continued to sob into the older man's shoulder.

"It's okay, Pete." He whispered to him.

"I know." He whispered back after a second, his crying coming to a very slow stop. "I know, Dad." He whispered, not even noticing his mistake.

But he heard Mr. Stark choke back a sob, and the hand on his back drew him closer, holding him tight and safe.

Peter had no idea how long Mr. Stark held him in his good arm, but he could feel his weight getting heavier as he leaned on Peter for support, the pain on his injured side obviously becoming too much as he took gasping, ragged breaths.

Peter, still in shock, hazily noticed the doors of the building open and people rushing through from where he sat, now basically hold Mr. Stark upright. Gentle hands pried him away from Mr. Stark and he saw, with hazy vision, Mr. Stark being placed on a stretcher. Other hands grabbed Dev Marton, hauling him away through the door, and finally, and finally, some hands carried away a small, whimpering boy.


	20. Chapter 20

"Peter, you have a visitor!" Aunt May called from the front door.

Peter sat on his bed, leaning back against the wall, looking for the life of him like a sad, sulky puppy. He was in no mood for visitors, not even Ned or MJ.

He had been sitting alone in his room for a week, guilt chewing away at him as he thought of how Mr. Stark had been injured. He could remember it clearly; his mentors scream of pain as the bullet had torn through his shoulder.

Thinking of this, he looked away from his open door, something May had insisted upon when she discovered his foul disposition, and folded his arms, looking out the window.

He barley noticed the presence at his door.

"I mean, come on kid. If anyone should be sulking it should be me." Came the sarcastic voice.

Peter whipped his head around, eyes wide as he took in Mr. Starks presence at his door. He was dressed casually, jeans and a t-shirt. But Peter's eyes went to the sling that held his left arm.

Noticing this, Mr. Stark waved him off.

"This is nothing kid," he said as he casually walked over to Peters bed and took a seat at the foot, "I've had worse. Should've seen me after Afghanistan!" HE said with a light chuckle.

Peter smiled slightly, happy to see his mentor safe and well, but his smile faded quickly and he looked down.

"Pete, none of this is your fault." Mr. Stark said, concern showing on his face.

"But you got shot!" Peter replied earnestly.

"Yeah, because I was too stupid to put my suit on before we went in. Something that you, by the way, reminded me to do multiple times." Mr. Stark admitted.

Peter watched him, a little surprised by Mr. Starks admission.

"Look, Pete. You saved my life. Hell, you saved the life of that little kid!"

Peter looked away, playing with his hands a little, before looking back up at Mr. Stark.

Mr. Stark sighed, and looked away from Pete, his good hand scratching the back of his head slightly. Peter knew that Mr. Stark was about to share something personal from this and so chose to remain silent.

"About a year ago, there was an event that changed the world."

Peter looked at him, leaning forward and not understanding.

"You mean, when you and cap fought?" He asked.

Mr. Stark let out a nervous chuckle and shook his head.

"No, no." He chuckled, "I wish that was all it was.'

There was a moment of silence.

"After the battle of New York, I started seeing… visions. Visions of this alien. And I just knew that, uh, he was coming. And so, I did all I could to prepare earth for the invasion. I created Ultron, which, I'll admit, was a huge failure. But last year, the attack came. You and I ended up on a space ship that took us to Titan. And that is where we fought him."

Peter looked at him, a question burning in his mind, but he bit his tongue, wanting to see how much Mr. Stark was willing to tell him. He decided on another question.

"Did we win?"

Mr. Stark let out another chuckle.

"Not straight away, no."

Peter looked at him, quizzically.

"There were some… complications. And we had to fight him again later, but you weren't there for that." He explained. "But after we did win, everyone was so traumatized that we decided the best option was for no one to remember. And so, with the help of Doctor Strange, the memories were removed. "

Peter looked away, he knew Mr. Stark was hiding something else. But he also knew it was not the time to push it.

"Pete, look. I know that sometimes I can be hard on you, and it's true, I want you to be better than me. But being on Titan in that battle, it taught me so much. And I realised that, well, you're special to me. And if anything happened to you, I-I just wouldn't be okay."

Peter raised his eyes slowly, looking at Mr. Stark. He saw his eyes shining with held back tears. He smiled slightly, tight lipped.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" He asked quietly.

Mr. Stark threw up a hand before letting it fall back to his leg.

"I didn't want you to remember. Still don't, by the way." He added quickly.

"Pete, whenever I made mistakes, my father would just yell at me, or ignore me. I – I, uh, I just want this to be different."

Peter bit back his surprise at Mr. Starks words, could he be saying what he thought he was saying?

"So what happened to Dev Marton?" Peter asked, clearing his throat slightly.

"He's in custody now, the police are still mounting evidence against him. If all goes well he'll never walk these streets again." Mr. Stark replied crisply.

Peter nodded slowly.

"So!" Mr. Stark said suddenly, his energy changing, slapping a hand on Peters knee, "Your birthdays coming up. What days are you free? Pepper would kill me if I didn't do something with you at our place."

Peter chuckled slightly, feeling at ease again for the first time in weeks. He sat the, a smile growing on his face as Mr. Stark listed the outrages things he planned to do for Peter's birthday. As Peter watched him and listened, a small thought came to his mind.

Mr. Stark and Aunt May had been right. You can't control life, and sometimes you have to roll with what it throws at you. Sometimes those things hurt, like when loved ones pass away, or when an enemy tries to attack someone you love. But life also give you unexpected joys to go with that. It had given him his relationship with his Aunt, a woman who he was deeply grateful for. And it had given him Mr. Stark, the man who he saw as his father, though, he would never admit that.

And with that thought, he leaned forward to join Mr. Starks excited chatter.

Fin.


End file.
